Strait to the heart: Truman State guard hits 3-pointer to foil QU men’s upset bid

QUINCY — Ryan Hellenthal chose an apt description for how the final 30 seconds played out for the Quincy University men’s basketball team Tuesday night at Pepsi Arena.

“Devastating,” the fifth-year coach said.

Jeff Horner knew what caused the Hawks’ heartache.

“Patience,” the Truman State coach said.

Trailing by two points coming out of timeout with 20.1 seconds remaining in regulation, the Bulldogs moved the ball from one side of the floor to the other and back again in order to free up Hunter Strait for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds to play.

The Hawks had a chance — two in fact — to retake the lead in the waning seconds. First, off an inbounds play with 6.8 seconds to play, Quincy guard Jamaurie Coakley drove hard down the left side of the lane only to have his shot blocked out of bounds by Truman State’s Dylan Peeters with seven-tenths of a second to go.

After another timeout, Quincy tried to throw the ball into the paint from the baseline, but was forced to settle for an Adam Moore desperation 3-point attempt from the left corner that hit the side of the backboard as time expired.

It spoiled the Hawks’ upset bid, saddling them with a 73-72 loss to the nation’s 16th-ranked team in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

“You have to go beat Truman, they’re not going to hand it to you,” Hellenthal said. “We just didn’t make the plays we needed to make. … You have to be able to play smart and execute in that way. We didn’t carry out what we were supposed to do.”

Specifically, the Hawks (8-6, 1-3 GLVC) never should have allowed Strait’s 3-point attempt.

Quincy had committed just four team fouls in the second half prior to Truman State’s final possession. It allowed for the Hawks to foul twice without sending the Bulldogs to the free-throw line as long as those fouls didn’t come on a shot attempt.

The Hawks didn’t foul once.

“When you can’t finish off late-game execution situations, it kills you,” Hellenthal said. “You can’t make those type of mistakes in these type of games and expect to win.”

The Bulldogs (10-2, 4-0 GLVC) intended to get Elijah Hazekamp free off a back screen for a layin, but the Hawks took it away. Instead, the pass to Hazekamp carried deep to the baseline and he kicked a pass to Peeters in the left corner. Peeters drove to the middle of the lane and kicked out to Strait for the 3-pointer.

“Nobody forced a shot,” Horner said. “Elijah could have forced it. Dylan could have gone up against two or three guys. But we made the extra pass, and we’ve been good about doing that all year.”

It led to Strait’s first made trey since December 11 against Central Christian College of the Bible.

“Huge three,” Horner said.

Still, there was time for Quincy to answer, and the Hawks got the type of play they wanted with Coakley trying to muscle his way to the block to score or get fouled. The 6-foot-8 Peeters used his wingspan to make the game’s defining defensive play.

“We got downhill and you want to finish something at the rim,” Hellenthal said. “Getting to the rim at that point is the priority.”

It might not have come to that had the Hawks executed better down the stretch.

Quincy led 69-60 with six minutes to play, but missed its final seven field-goal attempts and committed three turnovers. The only points over the final six minutes were three Nate Shockey free throws.

The Hawks shot 56 percent from the field over the game’s first 34 minutes, getting 17 points from Malik Hardmon, 13 points from Paul Zilinskas and 12 each from Charles Callier and Moore. Masen Miller led the Bulldogs with 23 points as they played without reigning GLVC Player of the Year Cade McKnight.

Truman State also trailed for nearly 26 minutes. The Bulldogs didn’t lead in the second half until Strait’s 3-pointer capped a 13-3 run.

“The last five minutes, we went back to our regular lineup and were able to run more of our offense,” Horner said. “That helped out with making guys a little more comfortable.”