WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Mules shot nearly 47 percent from the floor while holding Emporia State to 34 percent shooting in a 61-51 win on Saturday afternoon at the Multi. The Mules snap a two-game skid and improve to 13-7 overall and 7-7 in MIAA play.
UCM jumped out to an early 11-5 lead less than four minutes in to the game, but they went stagnant from the floor and Emporia State (9-11, 6-8 MIAA) used a 10-0 run to grab a 15-11 lead at the 12:06 mark. The Mules would go from the 16:34 mark of the first half to the 9:34 mark between made baskets, both layups from
Marquiez Lawrence. The second drew UCM to within a pair at 15-13 and Lawrence then sank two foul shots to tie the game at 15.
The Hornets led 18-17 with 6:20 left in the opening period when
Spencer Reaves got his first bucket of the game to put the Mules back in front 19-18. A 4-0 spurt gave the Hornets a 22-19 lead, but Reaves buried a three to tie the game and
Brett O'Neil followed with a deep three of his own to beat the shot clock and UCM led 25-22. Reaves added two more free throws to cap an 8-0 run by the Mules as they led 27-22 with 31 seconds left in the first half. The Hornets got a pair of free throws from Josh Pedersen to close to within 27-24 at the intermission.
ESU scored four straight points out of the break to regain the lead, 28-27, but Reaves hit another trey and
Brad Woodson scored on a jumper to give the Mules a 32-28 lead with 17:12 to play. The lead see-sawed back and forth between two and four points until Reaves started a 7-0 run with a layup and ended it with a three to give UCM a 43-34 lead at the 11:57 mark.
The lead was still nine with 5:52 to play in the game after a layup from
D'Marnier Cunningham, but a three-point play by Micah Swank and a jumper from Terrence Moore in just over 30 seconds cut the Mule lead to four at 53-49. Eckwood buried a open three-pointer to push the lead back to seven and Moore's layup with 2:46 to play to cut the lead to five was the closest ESU would get the rest of the way.
Cunningham hit two free throws and Woodson nailed a three-pointer with 1:24 to play that gave UCM a 10-point lead and iced the game.
Reaves led UCM with 17 poings to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Cunningham added 13 points and three steals. UCM was 21-of-45 from the floor and 7-of-16 from beyond the arc for 44 percent. The Mules made 12-of-14 free throws for 86 percent.
Moore led Emporia State with 17 points as the Hornets shot just 19-of-56 from the field. They were 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and 9-of-13 at the charity stripe for 69 percent.
The Mules forced ESU in to 19 turnovers, nine more than their season average and also had a season-high eight blocked shots in the game, four from
Williams Gabriel.
UCM now hits the road for four straight games starting on Thursday, Feb. 4 at Fort Hays State for a 7:30 p.m. tip. That game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler on the call.
