Box Score (HTML) | Season Stats
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The defending national champion Mules basketball team opened their 2014-15 season with a 67-66 win over 14th-ranked Minnesota State at the Sanford Pentagon Showcase on Friday night. It was the second consecutive season that UCM opened the year with a one-point win at the Sanford Pentagon after beating Northern State last year.
The first half was a back and forth affair with neither team able to gain control. The Mules (1-0) opened a three point lead, 10-7, at the 13:05 mark on a
Brennen Hughes layup, but a quick 4-0 spurt put the Mavericks (0-1) back in front by a point. Minnesota State led 15-13 when the Mules went on a 13-4 run to grab a 26-19 lead with 4:44 left in the half.
Kyle Wolf's three-pointer capped the run and gave UCM a seven-point lead.
The lead was 28-21 with 3:08 to play in the half, but the Mavs ended the half on a 4-2 spurt to pull within five, 30-25, at the intermission.
Minnesota State started fast in the second half, opening the frame on a 5-0 run to tie the game. The game was back and forth for much of the early going in the second half. A
Dillon Deck layup and
Preston Brunz jumper gave the Mules a four-point lead with 12:25 to play, but the Mavericks came right back to grab the lead with a 7-0 run, capped by a TJ Lake three-pointer.
The Mavs still led by three at 51-48 with 6:40 to play, but a 10-3 run by UCM gave the Mules a 58-54 lead with 3:38 to play.
TJ White's layup at the 4:20 mark gave the Mules the lead and Brunz drilled a three to extend the lead.
MSU pulled back to within one at 61-60 with 1:40 to play in the game on a pair of Connor Miller free throws, but Deck pushed the lead back to three with a lay-in.
Brad Woodson hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to four at 65-61 with 33 seconds left, but Miller drained a triple to cut the lead to one with :20 remaining. Wolf made two at the foul line to push the lead back to three, but a Zach Romashko layup made it 67-66 with :06 to play.
The Mules were immediately fouled on the inbounds, but Woodson missed both free throws and the Mavericks had a chance. Zach Monaghan's layup at the buzzer was no good and Brunz secured the rebound and the win.
Deck led UCM with 14 points, while White recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Hughes finished with 11 points and Brunz had 10.
Rakeem Dickerson had eight points, five assists and four rebounds.
The Mules shot 52 percent from the field (25-of-48) and made 3-of-8 from beyond the arc for 37 percent. UCM struggled at the foul line, shooting just 14-of-25 for 56 percent. The Mules had 12 assists to 10 turnovers.
Miller led four Mavericks in double figures with 14 points to go along with seven assists. Assem Marei had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, while Lake had 11 points and Monaghan had 10 and seven assists.
MSU shot 45 percent from the field, 22-of-48 and made 7-of-16 from three-point range for 43 percent. The Mavs were 15-of-22 at the charity stripe for 68 percent.
UCM out-rebounded MSU 33-25 and had 36 points in the paint and 27 bench points.
The Mules wrap up their South Dakota swing tomorrow at 2 p.m. against Sioux Falls. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO and warrensburgradio.com with Bill Turnage on the call.
