Hawks suffer another frustrating finish, lose tightly contested GLVC game to Bulldogs

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — Frustration has reached the point of exasperation and left the Quincy University men’s basketball players and coaches wondering what it is going to change the outcome of these near misses.

It happened again Thursday night.

The Hawks trailed Truman State by just four points with a little more than a minute to play in regulation of the Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Pershing Arena. But the Bulldogs made 7 of 10 free throws to finish off a 93-86 victory to complete a season sweep of the Hawks.

Since returning from the Christmas break, the Hawks (12-14, 5-11 GLVC) have had 12 of their 15 games decided by single digits. Quincy is 5-7 in those games.

“That’s what is disappointing about it,” QU coach Ryan Hellenthal said. “Outside of a handful of league games, we’ve been in every game. They’ve done exactly what we’ve asked them to do and hang around and hang around. We just cannot get enough stops together to win the games.

“It’s unfortunate because it’s not a lack of effort. Defensively, we’ve let each other down at the wrong times.”

The Hawks didn’t trail by more than two possessions at any point in the second half until the Bulldogs’ Hunter Strait made a pair of free throws with 4:20 to play for an 80-73 lead. Elijah Hazekamp’s 3-pointer a minute later made it a nine-point game.

Truman State’s Cade McKnight, the reigning GLVC Player of the Year and an All-American forward, scored two possessions later to keep it a three-possession lead at the Bulldogs held the Hawks at bay down the stretch.

McKnight finished with 25 points and eight rebounds, going 8 of 10 from the floor. Four other Bulldogs scored in double figures.

“It’s just frustrating because the guys left it all on the floor,” Hellenthal said. “Sometimes you’re not rewarded for it. … They made a few more plays than we did. They have an All-American and he played when he had to.”

Truman State (16-6, 10-4 GLVC) shot 57.1 percent from the field overall and 61.9 percent in the second half. Inside the 3-point stripe, the Bulldogs shot 74.2 percent.

“We’re limited inside,” Hellenthal said. “We just didn’t have answers for them in the second half.”

Jamaurie Coakley led the Hawks with 23 points and seven rebounds, while Paul Zilinskas added 15 points.