WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Central Missouri Mules used a 13-0 run in the first half to break a tie and pull away from Concordia-St. Paul for a 77-52 win on Saturday afternoon at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The game was tied 7-7 in the early going before the Mules' run that saw them take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Roosevelt Scott started the run with five straight points, a three-point play and a fast-break jumper. The run was 13-0 over a nearly five minute span that gave UCM a 20-7 lead.
The Golden Bears got the lead back to 10 at 22-12, but the Mules closed the half on a 14-4 run to lead 36-16 at halftime.
The second half got off to a sloppy start for the Mules, missing their first three shots and turning it over two other times. Scott scored UCM's first points of the half on a jumper at the 17:47 mark to make it 38-18.
D'Marnier Cunningham scored on a layup and then hit a three in consecutive trips to quickly push the lead to 25, 43-18, with 16:56 remaining in the game.
An 8-2 spurt by the Golden Bears cut the Mule lead to 45-26 with 14:37 to play, but the Mules answered back with a quick 6-0 spurt and the lead was 24 at the 12:25 mark. CSP cut the lead back to under 20 at 63-44 with 6:23 to play in the game, but a 12-1 run by UCM gave the Mules their largest lead of the day at 75-45 with 4:07 to play.
Scott led the Mules with 19 points and also had four steals. Cunningham finished with 12 points and
Tony Cochran chipped in 11.
Marquiez Lawrence had eight points and nine rebounds as well.
The Mules shot 45 percent for the game, going 29-of-64. They were 8-of-23 from three-point range for 35 percent and 11-of-15 at the foul line for 73 percent.
CSP was led by Cole Olstad's nine points. The Golden Bears had three players with eight points apiece. They were 18-of-53 from the field for 34 percent and 5-of-15 from three-point range for 33 percent. CSP was 11-of-18 from the charity stripe for 61 percent.
The Mules forced 21 CSP turnovers and turned those in to 18 points. UCM held a 32-22 advantage in points in the paint and 24-13 in bench scoring.
The Mules are back in action on Wednesday night as they host Rockhurst at 7:30 p.m. at the Multi. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com.
