Box Score (HTML) | Season Stats | Photo Gallery
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Southern shot 53 percent from the field and held the Mules to just 21 percent from three-point range as the Lions beat the 18th-ranked Mules 81-74 in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.
Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the game and it was a slow start offensively with the game tied 3-3 almost three and a half minutes in the game. The Mules (24-6) took their first lead of the game at 8-7 on a three-pointer from
Rakeem Dickerson. The Lions (20-10) went back in front on a Greg Renfroe three-point play and extend the lead to four at the 12:59 mark.
The Mules came back to tie the game at 15-all on a
Kyle Wolf triple with 9:12 to play. The game was tied again at 17-17, but a 15-5 run gave the Tigers a 32-22 lead with 4:43 to play in the half.
The Mules closed the half on a 10-4 run and trailed 36-32 at the intermission. It could have been closer, but Wolf's three-pointer at the buzzer rattled in then out.
The Lions quickly pushed the lead back to nine at the start of the second half and it was an uphill battle for the Mules the rest of the way. UCM cut the lead to four on a layup from
Brennen Hughes and a three from
Preston Brunz, but the Lions answered right back with four straight points to lead by eight with 14:45 to play. The lead was still eight when
Dillon Deck made one of two free throws and
TJ White scored on a layup and it was 51-46 MSSU with 13:22 to play, but that's as close as the Mules would get.
A 9-2 run by Southern gave the Lions a 12-point lead with 10:37 to play. The lead stayed around the eight to 10 point range for the majority of the second half before a late run by the Mules. Brunz made two free throws and Wolf scored on a putback to pull UCM with seven at 75-68 with 1:41 to play. Missouri Southern was solid at the free throw line, however, and sealed the game at the line.
Hughes led four Mules in double figures with 18 points and nine rebounds. Brunz had 16 points and five boards, while Wolf added 12 points and eight boards and Dickerson chipped in 11. The Mules were 26-of-56 from the field for 46 percent, but made just 4-of-19 three-point attempts. UCM was 18-of-24 at the free throw line.
Missouri Southern had five players in double figures and were led by Taevaunn Prince's 22 points. Cameron Cornelius had 14, while Austin Wright and Renfroe had 12 each and Lane Barlow added 10.
UCM turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 20 MSSU points.
The Mules will now wait until Sunday night to find out their NCAA postseason fate. The Men's Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. CST. UCM was fourth in this week's regional rankings that came out prior to the tournament and should receive an at-large bid to the NCAA-II National Tournament.
