KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—The host Truman State Bulldogs erased a 17-point halftime deficit to upset the No. 9 Bellarmine Knights 77-72 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Pershing Arena on Friday afternoon.
 
The Knights (13-3, 5-1 GLVC) went without a field goal from the 6:59 mark of the second half until Adam Eberhard drained a triple with just 21 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, the host Bulldogs (13-4, 5-2 GLVC) took full advantage, outscoring Bellarmine 16-3 over that span.
 
In the second period, Truman shot 62.5 percent from the field and outrebounded the Knights 17-10. Dwight Sistrunk, Jr., sparked the Bulldogs' second half performance by pouring in 16 of his team-leading 18 points after the intermission.
 
"We have a saying, 'you defend to win,'" said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "We didn't defend, and we lost." He added that the Knights' defense came up with just seven stops in the second half.
 
"We got outplayed in the second half as bad as you can get outplayed, no ifs, ands or buts," Davenport said. "It's a devastating loss. It was an opportunity to stay atop the East Division in the GLVC no matter what happens tomorrow, and now we'll probably be in the middle of the pack."
 
The opening period featured a series of runs with each team turning in an 11-0 spurt in the opening 10 and a half minutes. The Knights then strung together a 16-0 run late in the period to take a 43-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The first 52 seconds of the second half foreshadowed what was to about to happen as Sistrunk scored four quick points, and the Knights committed two turnovers.
 
Although the Knights responded to extend their lead back to 18 at the 17:30 mark, the Bulldogs showed their tenacity by answering with five straight points, and then continued to gradually whittle away at Bellarmine's lead.
 
The Knights managed to stay on top until 1:41 remained when Kyle Kanaskie drilled a 3-pointer to put Truman ahead 69-67. Following a Bellarmine miss, the Bulldogs worked the clock down before misfiring on a shot, but Billy Daniel rebounded his own miss and was fouled.  He drained both free throws to put Truman ahead 71-67 with just 50 ticks remaining on the clock.
 
Bellarmine then missed a trifecta and Daniels converted a layup on the Truman offensive end to make the Bulldog cushion six points with less than 30 seconds remaining.
 
Eberhard's triple with 21 seconds gave the Knights a last gasp of hope, but TSU's Jake Velky sank four free throws in the final 16 seconds to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
 
Again, Adam Eberhard led the Knights' offensive effort with 19 points while hauling in nine rebounds—all on the defensive end. The 6-8 sophomore also paced Bellarmine with three assists as the Knights handed out just 11 for the game.
 
Rusty Troutman added 16 points for Bellarmine while Al Davis and Ben Weyer chipped in with 10 apiece.
 
Bellarmine shot just 44.4 percent in the second half after hitting at a 52 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes.  
 
The Knights' 3-point shooting followed that pattern as well. After making seven of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Knights made just two of eight in the second to finish 9-19 (47.4%).
 
Today's game, which was scheduled on a Friday to accommodate Truman's exhibition game with Creighton on Saturday, had the start time moved up by three and a half hours to allow Bellarmine to return earlier to hopefully avoid icy road conditions.
 
The Knights return to action on Monday when they travel to Evansville to face the undefeated Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (EST).
 
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