KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Quincy University men's basketball team battled Truman State in the GLVC opener on Tuesday night (Dec. 2). The Hawks pulled within two points with ten minutes remaining, but the Bulldogs used a late surge to defeat the Hawks 69-59.

How It Happened
After two scoreless minutes, the Bulldogs got on the board first in Tuesday's GLVC-opening game.
 
The lead did not last long, as Tanner Stuckman answered with a mid-range jumper on the very next possession. The two teams battled back and forth after that.
 
The home team pulled ahead 16-10 with 10:57 remaining in the first half, but the Hawks responded in a big way.
 
Stuckman poured in a layup and a jumper on back-to-back possessions. Austin Downing later found the redshirt junior for his third straight bucket to tie the game, forcing Truman to take a timeout.
 
The Bulldogs were the beneficiaries coming out of the timeout. TSU went on a 15-4 run to take their largest lead of the half, 31-20.
 
Quincy did not go away. The Hawks quickly cut the lead back to six after Aziz Fadika knocked in two free throws and Jonah Smith drained a three.
 
The score sat at 33-27 when Charles Callier came into the game and provided another spark for the visiting team. 
 
The junior guard from Houston, Texas made an immediate impact when he came out of nowhere for a chase-down block, denying the Bulldogs of two fast break points. He followed that with a steal on the next defensive possession before getting fouled.
 
Callier knocked down both free throws to cut the TSU lead to four.
 
Austin Downing hit a driving layup with 32 seconds remaining to bring the score to 33-31 TSU.
 
Truman scored just before the buzzer sounded, as the Hawks trailed by four heading into the locker room.
 
The Bulldogs came out of halftime and extended their lead to 44-35 with 16:08 remaining.
 
The Hawks fought back once again. Charles Callier found Tanner Stuckman for an easy layup before knocking down a transition three of his own to make the score 44-40.
 
QU later cut the lead to two, 49-47, after Austin Downing found Stuckman for a three-pointer.
 
Quincy was never able to take the lead in the second half, as Truman went on an 18-2 run to go ahead 67-49.
 
The Hawks made one final surge as Ryan Briscoe hit a deep three and Aziz Fadika made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to ten with 2:22 left in the game.
 
The Bulldog lead was too much to overcome, however, as the Hawks were unable to get any closer. Truman closed out the game with a 69-59 victory.

Stat Leaders
Tanner Stuckman - 24 points, 9 rebounds
Ryan Briscoe - 9 points, 4 rebounds

QU's Record
3-3, 0-1 GLVC

Up Next
The Hawks head north on Saturday (Dec. 7) to face Loyola Chicago. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m.