Mules Leave Bolivar with Win in Overtime

Box Score (HTML) | Season Stats

BOLIVAR, Mo. - The 25th ranked Mules basketball team concluded a three game road trip with an overtime win against Southwest Baptist, 67-64. The win pushes the Mules to 18-4 overall and 9-4 in the MIAA.

UCM stumbled out of the gates allowing the Bearcats to go up early 9-5 heading to the first media timeout. The Mules finally took their first lead of the game when Preston Brunz hit his first of two three-pointers, just under seven minutes in.

The two foes traded baskets over the next eight minutes with SBU regaining a slight advantage at 21-20. The lead was short-lived however as the Mules went on a 6-0 spurt thanks to a pair of free throws from TJ White and Brennen Hughes each and a jumper from Brunz.

After a three-pointer from SBU's Quinton Smith made it a two-point game, Dillon Deck scored the next three points to match UCM's largest lead of the game to that point at 29-24.

It looked like that lead would hold up into the intermission, but Derrick Stewart nailed a buzzer-beating three to cut the Mule lead back to two, 29-24, heading to the locker room.

At the break, Brunz led the Mules with seven points while Hughes had six and White tallied four points to go along with five rebounds and an assist.

Both teams opened the second half cold from the floor. Kyle Wolf recorded the first points of the frame on a layup at the 17:33 mark.The Bearcats scored the next five points to reclaim the lead, 32-31, but the Mules rallied and went on a 7-0 stretch of their own, capped off with a Hughes layup, giving them a six-point edge, 38-32 and forcing an SBU timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, Smith ended the Mules run with a three, but Brunz quickly answered with a trey of his own, bumping the lead back to six.

UCM pushed their lead to eight, their largest of the game, 47-39, with 9:08 remaining, but the Bearcats continued to hang around.

SBU quickly trimmed the lead down to one, 47-46, as they scored on three straight possessions with five points coming from Stewart.

The Mules maintained a slight lead until Daymond Cowlah got a second-chance layup to go after corralling his own rebound off of a Hughes block, to take a 54-53 lead.

After Hughes missed a layup with 20 seconds remaining, the Mules needed to foul and Menas Stephens sank both free throw attempts, making it a three-point game, 56-53.

With only seconds remaining, Wolf came down with an offensive rebound, and Rakeem Dickerson found Jordan Epps for a three to tie the game with three seconds left on the clock. The basket was the first from the floor from the Mules in nearly seven and a half minutes. 

UCM's defense didn't allow a last second shot attempt and for the fourth time this season, the Mules would head to overtime.

In the extra period, the Mules scored the first three points thanks to an Epps free throw and Hughes layup. Down three, SBU's Stewart came up with a steal, put down a fast-break layup and drew a foul to make it a 59-58 ball game. However Stewart missed the ensuing free throw, failing to tie the game.

A Hughes layup and a pair of Brunz free throws extended the Mule lead to four, 63-59, and SBU needed to call a timeout with 21 seconds remaining.

Out of the timeout, UCM missed a pair of free throws and Cowlah connected on a three, again cutting the UCM lead to one, 63-62.

That was as close as they'd come though, as Dickerson and Brunz both knocked down two free throws each in the final ten seconds, and a desperation three at the buzzer fell short and the Mules walked away with a hard-fought 67-64 win.

Hughes led the Mules with 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. He also swatted four shot attempts, tying the most in a single-game by a Mule this season. Brunz finished with 16 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

SBU's Stewart led all scorers with 19 points and Stephens also picked up a double-double in the loss tallying 13 points and rebounds each.

UCM shot 43.1% from the field on 22-of-51 shooting while holding the Bearcats to just 35.5%, the lowest for an opponent since Northeastern shot 34.5% back on Dec. 20.

The Mules will return home to the UCM Multipurpose Building for the first time since Jan. 21. They'll welcome Missouri to Warrensburg Saturday, Feb. 7 as part of a doubleheader with the Jennies. The Mules and Lions tip-off at 3:30 p.m.