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WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Central Missouri Mules held Southwest Baptist's conference-leading offense 30 points below their season average in a 69-56 win on Thursday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The Mules (18-4, 10-3 MIAA) jumped out to an early nine-point lead opening the game on a 13-4 run. UCM pushed the lead to 16 with a 10-3 run to make it 23-7 midway through the opening half. The Bearcats (11-11, 4-9 MIAA) got back to within 13, but three straight points from Daylen Robison gave the Mules a 26-10 lead with 6:47 left in the half.
The Bearcats responded, however, scoring seven quick points and closing the half on a 15-5 run to pull within 31-25 at the intermission.
They continued their run into the second half, scoring the first four points out of the break to pull within 31-29 with 17:52 left in the game. A layup from Robinson and another from
Dillon Deck sparked an 8-0 run that gave UCM a 39-29 lead with 15:16 left in regulation.
Five quick points by SBU cut the margin in half, but the Mules responded with five straight points of their own to push the lead back to 10 midway through the second half. After an SBU layup, Ryan Magziarz drilled a three to put the Mules up 11 with 9:50 to play in the game. Five quick points by the Bearcats cut the deficit to six at 49-43 with 8:17 to play, but two layups from
TJ White and two more from Robinson pushed the lead to 12 at 55-43 at the 6:13 mark.
The Bearcats got back to within eight with just under four minutes to play, but the Mules iced the game at the foul line for the 13-point win.
White led UCM with 17 points, including 14 in the second half.
Charles Hammork had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Deck had 13 and Robinson chipped in 11 to go along with seven assists.
The Mules shot 48 percent from the field, 27 of 56, but were just 4 of 17 from three-point range for 24 percent. UCM was 11 of 20 at the foul line for 55 percent. The Mules had 15 assists and 11 steals in the game.
The Bearcats shot 43 percent, 21 of 49, and made 8 of 26 from beyond the arc for 31 percent. SBU was 6 of 13 at the charity stripe for 46 percent. They were led in scoring by Rashaad Brown-Peterson's game-high 25 points. Menas Stephens chipped in 12 points, while Desi Barmore had nine points and eight boards.
The Bearcats dished out 15 assists, but committed 16 turnovers leading to 17 UCM points. The Mules held a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint and the UCM bench out-scored SBU's 24-4.
The win gives the Mules 18 wins in a season for the 11th straight season. It is the longest active streak in the MIAA and ties the Northwest Missouri teams from 1997-2008 for the longest streak in MIAA history.
The Mules are back in action on Saturday afternoon traveling to Joplin, Mo. to take on Missouri Southern for a 3 p.m. tipoff. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler on the call.