Box Score (ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) – The Central Missouri Mules forged a furious second half rally to beat Missouri Western 74-68 on Wednesday night at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Mules trailed by as many as 16 in the first half and by 10 midway through the second half before rallying for the win. 
            Both teams struggled from the floor in the early going with the Griffons (8-17, 3-16 MIAA) scoring the first bucket of the game at the 17:47 mark to go up 2-0. The Mules (18-7, 14-5 MIAA) tied the game on an Alex Dean layup with 16:37 to play in the half, but Missouri Western scored four quick points to take a 6-2 lead.
            The Mules cut the lead to a pair at 8-6 on two Matt Webb free throws with 13:40 remaining, but the Griffons went on a 16-2 run to grab a 24-8 lead with 9:13 on the clock. Central Missouri responded with an 11-2 run of their own to pull within 26-19 at the 6:00 mark, but MWSU scored four quick points to push the lead back to 11. A three-point play from Dominique Long cut the lead to eight and the Griffons went into the break leading 32-23.
            Central Missouri shot just 6-of-17 from the field in the first half for 35 percent. The Mules were 0-of-7 from three-point range, but made 11-of-14 free throws to keep things close. The Griffons were 14-of-31 for 45 percent from the floor, but also struggled from the beyond the arc going 0-of-5. MWSU was 4-of-7 from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Mules 20-12 in the half. The Griffons had eight offensive rebounds compared to just one for UCM.
            The Mules cut the lead to eight early in the second half, but a 5-0 run by the Griffons pushed the lead back to 13 at 40-27. A 9-2 run by the Mules made it 42-36 with 14:56 to play in the game. Missouri Western responded again pushing the lead back to 11 with a 9-4 run.
            The Griffon lead was still 10 at the midway point of the second half when the Mules made their run. Long hit a jumper to cut it to eight then three straight free throws cut the lead to 55-50 with 7:34 to play. A layup by Lavonte Douglas pushed the lead back to seven, but a three-point play by Long cut it to four with just under seven minutes to go.
            Missouri Western pushed the lead back to seven at 60-53 with 5:31 to play, but Long scored eight straight points to give the Mules their first lead of the game at 61-60 with 3:46 remaining. The teams traded buckets to make it 63-62 before Boo Hunter drained a three to give UCM a four-point lead with 2:26 left. The Griffons answered with a three of their own, but a Dean dunk and layup from Hunter gave UCM its largest lead of the game to that point at 70-65 with 28 seconds to play.
            TJ Johnson sank three free throws to pull MWSU back to within a pair, but Hunter and Long each sank a pair from the charity stripe in the closing seconds to seal the win.
            The Mules shot 23-of-43 for the game for 54 percent, including 17-of-26 in the second half. They were 5-of-19 from three-point range with all five coming in the final stanza. UCM was 23-of-28 from the foul line for 82 percent.
            Long led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, including 19 in the second half, and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Widgett Washington added 13 points, while Hunter and Dean had 11 and 10, respectively.
            The Griffons were 26-of-58 from the floor for 45 percent and just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc for 18 percent. MWSU was 14-of-19 from the charity stripe.
            Douglas led Missouri Western with a double-double of 21 points and 11 boards. Johnson had 13 points and Justin Reid finished with 11.
            Missouri Western out-rebounded UCM 31-27 and had 12 offensive boards. The Mules turned the ball over 13 times and had nine assists compared to 13 helpers and 12 giveaways for the Griffons.
            The Mules will wrap up the regular season on Saturday with a chance to claim a share of the MIAA title. UCM will host Truman State at 3:30 p.m. It's Senior Day with the Mules' seniors being honored before the game. If the Mules can beat Truman State they will finish 15-5 in conference play and claim a share of the MIAA Championship.