Feb. 7, 2009 – #6 Southwest Baptist used a 10-0 run midway through the second half to break open a five-point lead and defeated the Truman Bulldogs 81-57 in Pershing Arena on Saturday afternoon. Ethan Freeman led the ‘Dogs with 11 points.
Patrick Fandja tied the game early in the first half but the Bearcats (18-3/11-3 MIAA) responded with a 13-4 run over the next 3:39 with three-triples during that span.
Truman (6-16/1-14 MIAA) climbed back behind Freeman and Brian Nwelue. Banks Estridge tied the game with 1:18 left in the half but Johnnie Harris sent the Bearcats to the locker room with a 32-31 lead with a free throw make.
Fandja closed Truman back to within at the 19:27 mark but Nick Kovacevich knocked down a pair of free throws and Matt Rogers threw down a dunk to extend the lead back to five.
D’Ante Harris added another basket to make is six straight for SBU before Fandja hit another jumper at the 17:09 mark.
For the next four minutes, the score would bounce between a eight to five point advantage for the Bearcats before the 10-0 run that was sparked by Kovacevich.
The Bulldogs shot 50% from the field but were just 1-of-4 from long range. Truman also committed 19 turnovers that led to 24 Bearcats points.
Freeman was 5-of-5 at the line and pulled down six boards to finish the night with 11 points. Fandja added 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
The Bearcats were led by Kovacevich, who scored a game-high 19 points with
Truman will host