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2009 Hall of Fame Class Inducted
The 1998-99 men’s basketball team and
basketball player Gerald Burditt were
inducted into the Truman Athletics Hall of
Fame as part of the Homecoming festivities on
Oct. 9-10, 2009.
1998-99 Men’s Basketball
Team
The Bulldog basketball team
advanced to the NCAA Final Four
for the 1998-99 season after
winning their final eight
conference regular season games,
three conference tournament games, with two
wins coming in the final seconds and sweeping
through the South Central regional tournament.
The remarkable run began after overcoming a
20-point halftime deficit to win at the buzzer on
Feb. 1 at Washburn University 67-65. The
Bulldogs would close the regular season with an
upset of No. 1 ranked Pittsburg State in Pershing
Arena by a 75-64 margin.
In the conference tournament, Truman
knocked off Missouri Southern in the opening
round in Kirksville by three, then Cory Parker
silenced the Pitt State crowd as he rainbowed a
jumper in as time expired giving Truman a 76-74
victory in the semifinals.
Returning to a jam-packed Pershing Arena, the
Bulldogs, behind two late free throws by Jason
Reinberg, earned the conference trophy and
automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.
Reinberg’s free throws with one second left gave the
Bulldogs a 70-68 victory over Northwest Missouri.
In the regional, Truman ended the seasons of
Missouri Western (82-69), host Midwestern State
(81-68) and Abilene Christian (76-69) to advance to
the NCAA Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky.
Truman’s first game in the national quarterfinals
may have been one of the greatest games in
the school’s history. Fighting a pesky St. Rose
(N.Y.) team, the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought
106-101 triple overtime victory to advance to the
final four.
The next night, the Bulldogs fell behind by 24
points to Metro State (Colo.) but again rallied
back in the second half. However, the
Roadrunners were able to hold on to the 69-65
victory to halt the winning streak at 15 games and
end the Bulldogs season at 26-7.
Members of the squad coached by regional
coach of the year Jack Schrader and assisted by
John Sloop were: All-American Cory Parker (’00),
Academic All-American Jason Reinberg (’00),
Brian Brown (’01), Jason Ramthun (’00), Andy
Guethle (’01, ’03), Mike Peterson (’02), Jason
Ward (’00), Chris Foulk (’99), Spencer Douglas,
AJ Crum (’01), Kyle Eagan (’01), Dusty Bruner
(’02), Donnie Daggett, Peter Aydt (’01) and Dan
Mailath (’03).
Gerald Burditt (’60, ’62) –
Men’s Basketball
Burditt was the second leading
scorer for a Bulldog team that
captured the MIAA championship
and advanced to the NCAA small
college quarterfinals in 1959-60.
Burditt earned first-team all-MIAA honors
averaging 15.1 points per game.
The Bulldogs won the conference championship
that season and won 13 of their last 14
games after starting the season with a 4-3 record.
Kirksville and Pershing Arena were selected as
the host for the NCAA Southwest Regional, in
which Truman defeated Abilene Christian 79-76
in the finals. Burditt had 21 points in the game as
the Bulldogs rallied from a six-point deficit
midway through the second half.
The Bulldogs lost to Cornell (Iowa) 83-81 in
the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in
Evansville, Ind.
Burditt was previously a two-time second-team
MIAA pick under Head Coach Boyd King and
was named to the “Who’s Who in Small College
Basketball” following the 59-60 season.
40 Truman Review