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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Central Missouri Mules held off a late charge from Northeastern State to pull out a 77-69 win on Wednesday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Mules led by as many as 15 in the second half before staving off the late rally by the RiverHawks.

The Mules (9-3, 3-1 MIAA) got off to a fast start jumping out to an early 8-4 lead before Northeastern State (10-3, 3-2 MIAA) came back with a 7-2 run to grab an 11-10 lead at the 15:21 mark.

The game was tied at 11-all when the Mules went on a 16-2 run to open a 27-13 lead with 7:24 left in the half. The RiverHawks were able to close to within nine on a couple of occasions, before UCM scored the final four points of the half to lead 35-22 at the intermission.

Central Missouri pushed the lead to 15 in the first minute of the second half, their biggest lead of the game. The RiverHawks battled back though and closed to within nine points at the 14:28 mark. A pair of free throws from Charles Hammork pushed the lead back to 11, but NSU came right back with a 9-1 run to pull within 48-45 with 10:27 left in the game.

The Mules responded with a quick 10-4 spurt of their own to push the lead back to nine at the 7:14 mark, but the RiverHawks fought back with an 8-0 run to close to within a single point. The lead was still one at 60-59 when the Mules scored four quick points on a four-point play from Dominique Long to lead 64-59 with 2:48 left in regulation.

A trey from Ethan Anderson cut the UCM lead to two, but tight defense down the stretch and clutch free throw shooting clinched the game for the Mules.

Long and Lance Beckwith led the Mules with 17 points apiece, while Widgett Washington added 15 and six assists. Long had a team-high six rebounds and Beckwith had five.

The Mules shot 24-of-55 from the field for 44 percent, including 6-of-16 from beyond the arc for 38 percent. UCM was 23-of-32 from the foul line, including 14-of-17 in the final three minutes. UCM had 13 assists to nine turnovers and also had seven steals while forcing 14 NSU turnovers.

The RiverHawks were led by Bryton Hobbs' game-high 25 points. Jermaine Bransford recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. NSU had 12 assists as well.

Northeastern State shot 26-of-52 for 50 percent from the floor and they were 5-of-13 from three-point range for 39 percent. NSU was 12-of-16 from the charity stripe for 75 percent.

The Mules are back in action on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. hosting Pittsburg State at the Multi. Airtime on the UCM Sports Network with Shawn Jones and Greg Hassler is set for 3:05 p.m. You can hear the game live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and www.warrensburgradio.com. 90.9 The Bridge will pick up the broadcast at tip-off. A pay-per-view student-run webcast is available through AmericaOneSports.com.