No. 7 Seed PSU Men Advance to Kansas City With 70-62 Win - KOAM TV 7

No. 7 Seed PSU Men Advance to Kansas City With 70-62 Win

PITTSBURG -- The Pittsburg State men's basketball team outscored Truman 13-3 in the game's final 3:14 to erase a two-point deficit and pull away for a 70-62 victory in the first round of the MIAA Postseason Tournament at John Lance Arena/Whetzel Court.

The seventh-seeded Gorillas (18-9) advance to the second round Thursday (Mar. 7) when they will face No. 2 seed Central Missouri at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., at 6 p.m. (CST). The 10th-seeded Bulldogs end their season with a 10-17 record.

Pitt State led by just a point, 63-62, with 46 seconds to play, after Seth Jackson made one of two free throws for Truman.

Rico Pierrevilus then hit a guarded 3-pointer with the shot clock running down with 17 seconds remaining to give the Gorillas a 66-62 edge.

The Bulldogs hustled the ball the other way, but Jackson turned the ball over in traffic with 11 seconds remaining, resulting in a Jake Bullard dunk and a 68-62 Pitt State lead.

Truman turned the ball over again in transition in the waning seconds and JaVon McGee completed a transition dunk with less than a second remaining on the clock to cap the frenzied final minute of play.

Pitt State tried to take control early in the second half after leading just 27-25 at halftime. The Gorillas opened the second half on a 15-7 run to push in front 42-32 with 14:55 to play in the game. Truman countered with a 23-9 run of its own to lead by four, at 55-51, with 8:10 to go.

Kaleb Porter led four Gorillas in double figures with 19 points. Bullard added a double-double with 14 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. JaVon McGee chipped in with 12 points, while Marky Nolen added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Mike Carlson fired in game highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs in their final game before leaving the MIAA to join the Great Lakes Valley Conference in 2013-14.

Seth Jackson added 11 points and Tom Norton finished with 10 points for Truman.