SOMERS, Wis. -- Junior Kendale McCullum scored a game-high 23 points, but Kyle Kanaskie made two free throws with 11 seconds to play and Truman State withstood a three-point attempt at the buzzer as the Bulldogs defeated Wisconsin-Parkside 64-61 on Saturday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in DeSimone Gymnasium.

Truman State, which improved to 18-7 overall and 10-5 in the GLVC, shot 70.4 percent from the floor in the first half and then held off a late charge by the Rangers to hand Wisconsin-Parkside its first home loss of the season.

Wisconsin-Parkside, which dropped to 19-5 on the season and 11-4 in conference play, limited Truman State to just 28.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half but could not overcome a 15-point second half deficit. Despite the loss, Wisconsin-Parkside still sits in third place in the GLVC East Division standings. The Rangers are currently tied with Lewis and Indianapolis, but own victories over both teams earlier this season. The top four teams overall will earn a bye into the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament which will be held March 2-5 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. The remaining eight teams who qualify for the postseason will play opening round games at campus sites on Feb. 26.

A layup by Zach Fischer gave Truman State a 55-40 lead with 8:34 to play in the second half before the Rangers mounted a comeback.

A three-pointer and a three-point play by Alexander Brown cut the Bulldogs lead to 57-48 with 5:53 to play in the game, but Connor Erickson converted a three-point play to up the lead to 60-48 at the 5:41 mark of the second half.

Wisconsin-Parkside then ripped off an 11-0 run to climb right back into the game.

Brown converted a layup and then made 1-of-2 free throw attempts to trim the lead to 60-51 with 4:09 remaining in the game. McCullum scored inside on a layup and Goran Zagorac made 1-of-2 free throws to bring the Rangers to within 60-54 with 1:39 left to play.

McCullum then scored back-to-back layups to cut the lead to 60-58 with 1:06 remaining in the second half. Following a Truman State turnover, Zagorac was fouled driving to the basket and made 1-of-2 free throw attempts to cut the margin to 60-59 with 55.8 seconds to play.

Truman State failed to beat the count on an inbounds play with 51.2 seconds remaining, but the Rangers also turned the ball over on their next trip and were forced to foul. Jake Velky made two free throws with 26.4 seconds left to up the lead to 62-59, but Jake Verhagen scored inside with 12.6 seconds to play to trim the lead to 62-61.

The Rangers fouled Kanaskie who made both free throws with 11 seconds left and the Rangers game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.

Truman State led for 18:55 of the first half and built as much as a 13-point lead behind its hot shooting. The Bulldogs took a 40-30 lead into intermission.

Wisconsin-Parkside also received 18 points from Brown, while Verhagen had seven points and six rebounds and Zagorac added six points.

Truman State was led by Erickson who had 20 points and seven rebounds, while Cory Myers finished with 14 points.

Wisconsin-Parkside will return to action on Thursday (Feb. 16) when it visits Saint Joseph's for a GLVC contest beginning at 7:30 p.m.