The William Jewell Cardinals men's basketball team battled back from an eleven point half-time deficit, but fell just short in a thrilling 76-75 loss to the conference foe Truman State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon in the Mabee Center.
 
The Bulldogs took a 46-35 lead into the halftime break, spurred on by eight first half 3-pointers. The Cardinals stormed back in the second half, cutting the Bulldog lead to three on a Austin Regier layup after a nifty behind the back pass from Javier De La Blanca. After a defensive stop, Darius Tomlin drained a deep three to tie the game at 73 with slightly over a minute to play. Truman State made one free throw to take a brief lead, but De La Blanca made a lay-up to give the Cardinals the lead with under 30 seconds to play. On Truman State's final possession of the game, Cole Myers hit a jump shot with 4 seconds to play. The Cardinals quickly inbounded the ball to Tomlin, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer fell just short.
 
Almost one-third of the Cardinals points came from the charity stripe, as they made 24 free throws on the afternoon.
 
Tomlin led the furious comeback, scoring 15 of his 24 total points in the second half. De La Blanca contributed 15 points, while Austin Regier chipped in 13 points.
 
The Bulldogs attacked the Cardinals with a balanced scoring attack, with ten players recording points. Kyle Kanaskie led Truman State in scoring, putting in 16 points on the afternoon.
 
The loss drops the Cardinals to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The win moves Bulldogs to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
 
The Cardinals return to action at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 12, as they take on Newman University in a non-conference bout at the Mabee Center.