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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Mules closed out the first half on a 26-5 run to propel them to a 93-70 win over Missouri S&T on Tuesday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The Mules trailed by five in the first half, but used the big run at the end of the frame to put some distance between themselves and the Miners.
Missouri S&T (1-1) came out of the gates on fire as they jumped out to an early lead. The Mules (3-0) pulled even at 13-all, but a quick 4-0 run put the Miners back in front. UCM got back to within one on a
Rakeem Dickerson three-pointer, but Missouri S&T quickly pushed the lead back to five at 26-21 with 9:43 to play in the half.
A layup from
Dillon Deck got the Mules to within three and
Donte Adams' bucket made it a one-point game. After a pair of free throw from Zach Ellis gave MST a three-point lead,
Tony Cochran hit a three to tie the game and
Jordan Epps made a pair of free throws to put UCM in front.
Marcus Walden gave Missouri S&T a 31-30 lead on a layup and one with 4:08 to play in the half, but UCM closed the half on a 17-0 run to lead 47-31 at the intermission.
The Mules quickly pushed the lead to 22 out of the halftime break.
Preston Brunz hit a pair of threes in the first two plus minutes of the half to spur the run. A 10-3 run by the Miners got them back to within 15 at the 13:44 mark, but a 23-8 run by the Mules pushed the lead to 30 and essentially put the game away as UCM cruised to the 23 point win.
Dickerson and
TJ White led UCM with 17 points apiece. Dickerson added 10 assists for a double-double and White had 12 rebounds for his second in three games this season. Dickerson also had five steals and three rebounds. All 12 Mules who saw action in the game scored.
UCM shot 61 percent from the floor, 32-of-52, including 10-of-18 from three-point range for 55 percent. The Mules were 19-of-31 at the foul line for 61 percent.
The Mules held Missouri S&T to 37 percent shooting from the floor, 26-of-70, and 18 percent from beyond the arc, 3-of-16. The Miners were 15-of-19 at the charity stripe for 78 percent. Zach Ellis led three Miners in double figures with a game-high 19 points. Desmond Buerge had 16 points and Walden added 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Mules had 20 assists on the night, but committed 16 turnovers that led to 24 MST points. The Miners had six assists and nine turnovers.
UCM is back in action on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. hosting Westminster College at the Multipurpose Building. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com. A pay-per-view webcast run by the UCM Media Network is also available through Stretch Internet at portal.stretchinternet.com/ucmo/
