The Truman State Bulldogs saw a 12-foot jumper from Xavier Hall slip through the nets at the Buzzer and claimed a wild 78-77 win over the Drury Panthers on Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 
In a game that was dominated by long-range shooting from both teams, it came down to the much shorter effort that made the difference in the end.
 
Drury had taken a 77-74 lead on a deep three-point basket from senior Logan Applegate with just under one minute to play, only to see Truman make the final two buckets of the contest and emerge with the win. 
 
"You can point to the last play, but there were a lot of plays earlier where we gotta execute better," said Drury head coach Chris Foster.  "That's what put us in that position at the end, but credit to him (Hall) for a good shot."
 
After trailing the Bulldogs early 23-11, the Panthers used a 20-0 scoring blitz in the middle of the first half to jump in front by as many 15 points before carrying a 47-37 lead into the halftime break. But Truman State quickly erased that lead early after intermission and it was a tight race to the end.
 
Truman State for the game was 16 of 33 from three-point range, the Panthers on the other end went 14 of 28 from beyond the arc.
 
Sophomore Zach Howell topped the Drury scoring, finishing with 25 points, 21 coming in the first half. Sophomore Juok Riak added 13, while Applegate closed with 11 as the Panthers dropped to 5-3 overall and now 1-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
 
The Bulldogs, who improved to 5-4 on the season and also 1-2 in GLVC action, were led by 19 points from Hall.
 
The Panthers will next host Central Christian in a 6 pm meeting on Monday, December 16th at the O'Reilly Family Event Center .