Box Score (KIRKSVILLE, Mo.) – The Central Missouri Mules moved into a four-way tie atop the MIAA standings as they held off Truman State 78-73 on Wednesday night at Pershing Arena. UCM built a 16-point second half lead then withstood a late charge from the Bulldogs to improve to 7-3 in league play at the halfway mark of the conference season.
            The Mules (11-4, 7-3 MIAA) took an early 2-0 lead on a layup by Dominique Long, but then went cold from the field. The Bulldogs (5-12, 3-7 MIAA) tied the game at two on a Mike Carlson layup with 18:26 to play in the half. The next field goal for either team didn't come until the 16:45 mark, a layup by EJ Hicks, to put Truman State in front 4-2. Lance Beckwith tied the game on a lay-in at the 16:25 mark only to see Truman go back in front on a three by Carlson.
            The Bulldogs extended their lead to six at 12-6 on a Seth Jackson bucket at the 13:48 mark. Beckwith drained a three to cut the lead in half, but Hicks answered with a jumper to push the lead back to five. Later in the frame Widgett Washington and Alex Dean had back-to-back buckets to give the Mules a 17-16 lead, their first lead since 2-0.
            The teams traded buckets on three straight possessions before a quick 5-0 spurt gave UCM its biggest lead of the game at 28-22 with 4:20 to play in the half. The Central lead was still six at 31-25 with 1:35 left in the period, but the Bulldogs closed the half with a pair of free throws and a layup by Jackson to cut the UCM lead to 31-29 at the intermission.
            Beckwith had 12 points in the half to lead the Mules, while Dean added 11. UCM was 12-of-26 from the field for 46.2 percent, but just 1-of-4 from three point range and 6-of-12 from the foul line.
            The Mules started fast out of the intermission using a 17-6 run in the opening five minutes of the half to take a 48-35 lead. Long started the run with a layup on the Mules' first possession of the half and later hit three free throws to push the lead to nine. Beckwith and Dean traded buckets for UCM as the Mules built their biggest lead of the game to that point.
            The teams traded baskets over the next three plus minutes until Boo Hunter's jumper at the 10:55 mark gave UCM a 58-43 lead.
            The Bulldogs used an 11-5 run to trim UCM's lead to 63-54 with 4:34 to play in the game. A pair of free throws by the Mules pushed the lead back to 11 and the teams traded points up and down the court the next few possessions. The Mules missed an opportunity to extend the lead to 13 at the 2:17 mark with a pair of misses at the foul line and Truman too advantage to pull within nine at 69-60 the next trip down the court.
            A turnover by Central led to a quick bucket for the Bulldogs and a pair of free throws on the next trip made it 69-64 with 55.1 seconds to play. The Mules made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe on the next trip to make it 70-64, but the Bulldogs got a quick bucket to pull within four. UCM broke the Truman press and Hunter found Beckwith for a wide-open layup to give the Mules a 72-66 lead with 43.7 on the clock.
            Another layup trimmed the lead to 72-68 with 32 ticks left. Hunter made a pair of free throws to extend the lead, only to see the Bulldogs score another easy layup to keep it a four-point game with 20 seconds left.
            Hunter again made two free throws to push the lead to 76-70. After a defensive stop, Long made a pair from the line to give UCM a 78-70 lead. Truman hit a late three for the 78-73 final.
            Beckwith led five Mules in double figures with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Dean had 15 points, while Long chipped in 13 going 9-of-13 from the charity stripe. Hunter and Washington each had 12 as the Mules shot 24-of-51 from the field for 47.1 percent. UCM was 3-of-9 from three point range for 33.3 percent and 27-of-39 from the foul line for 69.2 percent.
            The Bulldogs were led by Jackson's 22 points, while Hicks chipped in 15. Truman was 28-of-66 from the field for 42.4 percent and 4-of-18 from beyond the arc for 22.2 percent. TSU was 13-of-23 from the foul line for 56.5 percent.
            The Mules are back in action this Saturday as they travel to Bolivar, Mo. to take on Southwest Baptist. The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.