Box Score (WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – The Central Missouri Mules pulled away from the Lincoln Blue Tigers near the end of the first half then used a big second half to roll to an 85-65 win on Wednesday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
            Central Missouri (6-3, 2-2 MIAA) jumped out to a 6-2 lead early on behind three points each from Widgett Washington and Dominique Long. UCM later used a 7-0 run to open a 17-8 lead with 13:41 to play in the first half, but the Blue Tigers (1-7, 1-3 MIAA) battled their way back. A 10-3 run by Lincoln tied the game at 23-all with 7:59 to play in the opening period.
            The Mules responded with an 11-0 run to take a 34-23 lead with just under four minutes to play in the half. Washington started the run with a pair of free throws and Lance Beckwith ended the run when he grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup. A three by Clifton Fleming cut UCM's lead to eight with just under a minute to play, but a foul shot by Washington right before halftime gave the Mules a 37-28 lead at the break.
            Central Missouri opened the second half on a 12-3 run to open a 49-31 lead with 16:29 to play. After a bucket by Lincoln cut the lead to 16, UCM scored five quick points to up the lead to 21 at 54-33.
            An 11-6 run later in the half pushed the UCM lead to 24 at 67-43 with 8:49 to play in the game. The lead would reach as high as 25 as the Mules rolled to their sixth win of the season, while snapping a two-game skid in the process.
            Central Missouri shot 50 percent from the field for the game going 31-of-62. The Mules were 5-of-14 from behind the arc for 35.7 percent and 18-of-28 from the foul line for 64.3 percent.
            UCM held the Blue Tigers to 38.5 percent shooting for the game, 25-of-65. LU was 7-of-20 from beyond the arc for 35 percent and 8-of-13 from the charity stripe for 61.5 percent.
            Washington led UCM with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Long recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He was perfect on the night going 6-of-6 from the field, 3-of-3 from three point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Beckwith finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Matt Webb had 10 points and five boards for the Mules.
            Fleming and Cedric Ridle each had 13 points to lead the Blue Tigers.
            The Mules out-rebounded Lincoln 47-34, while forcing 15 Blue Tiger turnovers. They did commit 14 turnovers of their own, but had 19 assists compared to 13 for LU.
            Central Missouri is back in action on Sunday night at Pittsburg State. Game-time is set for approximately 8 p.m. at John Lance Arena.