Mules hit the road for battle with 23rd-ranked Arkansas-Fort Smith

TIP-OFF
• The Central Missouri Mules stay out on the road for their first true road game of the season. UCM heads to Fort Smith, Ark. on Saturday night, Nov. 19 to take on Arkansas-Fort Smith. Tip-off at the Stubblefield Center is set for 6 p.m.
• Central Missouri is coming off a perfect 2-0 opening weekend in the Wisconsin Dells. The Mules beat Minnesota-Duluth 68-65 in the season-opener before beating Bemidji State 80-65 on Saturday.
• The Mules were picked to finish ninth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Arkansas-Fort Smith is 3-2 on the season following an 88-83 win over Colorado State-Pueblo last Saturday in Claremore, Okla. The Lions went 2-1 at the season-opening CCA Tip-off Classic in East Orange, Calif.
• The Lions were picked to win the Heartland Conference Championship this season and were ranked preseason No. 23 in the NABC Preseason Coaches Poll.

QUICK HISTORY
• This is the 112th season of Central Missouri Mules basketball.
• Central Missouri is third all-time in NCAA Division II men's basketball with 1,654 wins. One of just four NCAA-II programs with 1,600 wins.
• The Mules have won two NCAA Men's National Championships (1984 & 2014) and four National Championships overall (1937 & 1938 NAIB).

MULE FEED
• The Mules return one All-MIAA player from a season ago, junior guard Spencer Reaves, who earned honorable mention all-conference accolades after averaging 12.3 points and 2.5 boards per game.
• The Mules averaged 70.7 points per game and shot 46 percent from the field last season. Defensively, UCM allowed 69.8 points per contest on 43.7 percent shooting.
• Eleven different players scored in double figures for the Mules in 2015-16 and six of those players return to the squad this year.
• Marquiez Lawrence recorded six double-doubles last year. He was the only UCM player to record a double-double during the season.
• Spencer Reaves is UCM's top returning scorer this year after averaging 12.3 points per game a season ago. He scored in double figures 19 times last season, including three 20-point performances and a career-high 33 points against Pittsburg State.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the third all-time meeting between the Mules and Arkansas-Fort Smith. UCM has won the first two meetings.
• The first meeting was a 76-75 win by UCM in Las Vegas back on Dec. 19, 2012. The last meeting was a classic, with the Mules coming out on top 111-106 in triple overtime on Nov. 29, 2014 at the Multi in Warrensburg.

LAST MEETING WITH ARKANSAS-FORT SMTH
WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 29, 2014) -- Seven Mules scored in double figures as the 10th-ranked Mules outlasted Arkansas-Fort Smith 111-106 in a triple overtime thriller on Saturday afternoon at the Multipurpose Building. The Mules scored the final five points of the third overtime to move to 6-0 on the season.
    The Lions (2-4) jumped out to an early seven point lead midway through the first half. The Mules rallied to within a point only to see UAFS push the lead back to seven at 29-22 with just over five minutes left in the first half. The Lion lead was 32-29 with 2:51 left in the opening stanza, when the Mules went on a 9-0 run to grab a 38-32 lead with 28 seconds left. Seth Youngblood drained a three, one of his nine in the game, with seven seconds left and Blake Branham stole the inbounds pass and drained a three at the buzzer to tie the game at 38 at halftime.
    UCM scored the first nine points of the second half to open a 47-38 lead with 17:39 to play, but Arkansas-Fort Smith kept battling back. The Lions got back to within five only to see the Mules push the lead to 10 at 56-46 with 14:25 to play. Five straight points from Josh Harmon cut the lead to five.
    Central Missouri pushed the lead back to 10 at 66-56 with 8:18 to play in regulation, but 7-2 run cut the lead to five at 68-63. The Mules got the lead back to nine on a pair of free throws from Dillon Deck and a TJ White layup to make it 74-65 with 5:03 to play. After a Rakeem Dickerson layup gave UCM a 76-69 lead, Youngblood made two foul shots and a layup and Alex Cooper hit a pair of free throws to make it 78-75 with 2:05 to play. Brad Woodson hit a jumper to give UCM a five point lead, but Youngblood drained another three and Cooper hit two more at the free throw line to tie the game at 80. The Mules couldn't get a shot off and the game headed to overtime.
    The Mules held a three-point lead at 84-81 early in the first extra period, but a Youngblood three tied the game at 86-all with 2:20 to play. The Lions went in front 90-88 with 1:10 left on a three from Cooper, but White's layup with :51 left tied the game. His and-one attempt was no good and but UCM got the rebound. The Mules had two cracks at the last shot, but couldn't get either to fall and the game headed to a second OT.
    The Mules led by as many as four in overtime number two at 98-94 with :25 to play. Branham drained a three to pull UAFS within one and after Sean O'Brien hit one of two foul shots, DaVaunta Thomas scored on a putback to tie the game at 99 and send it to a third overtime.
    Youngblood hit another three with 3:45 left in the third OT to put Arkansas-Fort Smith in front 102-99 and the Lions led 104-101 after a Youngblood jumper with 3:14 to play. Dickerson scored at the 2:47 mark to pull UCM within a point and his free throw at 2:15 tied the game at 104. Dickerson made 1-of-2 at the foul line later in the stanza to put the Mules up one at 105-104 and O'Brien hit a baseline jumper to give UCM a three-point advantage, 107-104.
    Branham scored on a layup to pull UAFS within one at 107-106, but the UAFS bench was whistled for a technical foul by calling a timeout when they had zero left. Preston Brunz calmly hit both free throws to put UCM in front by three at 109-106 and Tony Cochran made one of two after being fouled on the inbounds to make it 110-106. Youngblood's final three was off the mark and Kyle Wolf hit one free throw to give UCM the final 111-106.
    Dickerson led UCM with 19 points to go along with five assists. Deck had 18 points before fouling out. White had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench. Brunz finished with 14 points and five assists, while Brennen Hughes had 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Wolf had 11 and Woodson finished with 10.
    The Mules shot 52 percent from the floor, 37-of-71, and made 7-of-19 from the three-point line for 36 percent. UCM was 30-of-44 at the foul line for 68 percent. The Mules out-rebounded the Lions 42-37, held a 42-30 advantage in points in the paint, 20-8 in points off turnovers and 44-24 in bench scoring.
    Youngblood led all scorers with 48 points on 14-of-21 shooting, including 9-of-14 from beyond the arc. Cooper had 22 points and Harmon added 13 off the bench. The Lions shot 34-of-66 from the floor for 51 percent and 17-of-25 from beyond the arc for 68 percent. UAFS was 21-of-32 at the foul line for 65 percent.
    UCM had 19 assists to nine turnovers, while the Lions had 12 assists and 15 giveaways.

SCOUTING ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH
• Arkansas-Fort Smith enters the contest at 3-2 overall following a 1-1 weekend last week. The Lions lost to No. 20 Midwestern State 83-80 before rebounding to beat Colorado State-Pueblo 88-83.
• The Lions are led by 11th-year head coach Josh Newman. He has compiled a 194-110 record leading the UAFS program.
• The Lions return three starters from their 2015-16 team that finished 23-9 overall. UAFS was picked to win the Heartland Conference this season and is preseason No. 23 in the NABC rankings.
• The Lions average 84.6 points per game offensively, shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three-point range. They allow 880.0 points per contest on 47.2 percent shooting and 35.3 percent three-point shooting.
• Seth Youngblood, who scored 48 points in the previous meeting between UCM and UAFS, leads the team in scoring at 20.6 points per game. He is shooting 42.1 percent from the field (32-of-76) and 42.1 percent from three-point range (16-of-38).
• Three other Lions are averaging in double figures including DeVaunta Thomas (17.2 pgg), Alex Cooper (10.4 ppg) and Darrius Parker (10.2 ppg). Cooper scored 22 points in the meeting in Warrensburg two years ago.
• Thomas leads the team in rebounding at 7.2 boards per game and Youngblood adds 5.0 per outing as UAFS out-rebounds opponents 36.6-34.8.

LAST TIME OUT • CENTRAL MISSOURI 80, BEMIDJI STATE 65 • 11/12/16
WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (Nov. 12, 2016) – Spencer Reaves poured in a game-high 24 points and three Mules finished in double figures as Central Missouri pulled away from Bemidji State for an 80-65 in-region win on Saturday night at Just A Game Fieldhouse.
    Reaves scored 12 of the Mules' (2-0) first 14 points as UCM raced out to an early 14-3 lead. They pushed the lead to 13 midway through the opening period before BSU (0-2) charged back. Sharif Black hit a three-pointer to pull the Beavers within seven. A free throw from Clarence Smith and three-pointer by Kyle Wolf pushed the lead back to 11 at 23-12 with 10:13 to play in the half, but BSU kept fighting back. A layup from Black ignited an 8-0 run to pull BSU within 25-22 with 4:55 to play.
    Jakob Lowrance scored to halt the run, but BSU got two right back at the foul line and another layup from Black cut the UCM lead to one. Back-to-back jumpers from Erick Locke and a layup from Lowrance gave the Mules a 6-0 run to end the half and a 33-26 lead at the intermission.
    Central Missouri opened the second half on a 9-4 run to open a 12-point advantage at 42-30. The Beavers were able to get back to within eight on three separate occasions, but the Mules answered every time to stretch the lead. A layup from Brett O'Neil and two free throws from Lowrance pushed the UCM lead to 19 at 66-47 with 8:06 to play in the game.
    The Beavers got back to within 11 at 66-55 after an 8-0 run, but a three from Smith pushed the lead to 14 and Williams Gabriel hit a pair of foul shots to make it a 16-point lead. That ignited a 13-0 run that gave UCM a a 79-55 lead as they cruised to the win.
    Reaves was 7-of-10 from the field, including five three-pointers as the Mules made 11 threes in the game and shot 51 percent from the field. Lowrance and Wolf finished with 14 points each, while Reaves and Wolf also had six rebounds apiece to lead UCM. Smith had seven points and a game-high six assists, while Locke had eight points and five assists.
    Black led three Beavers in double figures with 18 as BSU shot 43 percent from the field and made 10 threes. UCM was 13-of-19 from the foul line for 68 percent while Bemidji State made 5-of-9.

MULES IN ROAD OPENERS
• The Mules are 2-0 in road openers under Doug Karleskint and have won three straight overall.

MULES IN NON-CONFERENCE ACTION
• The Mules are 2-0 in non-conference action after a perfect opening weekend in the Wisconsin Dells.
• UCM was 6-1 in non-conference games last season, including a 6-0 mark in regular season non-con games. They are 134-32 over the last 15 seasons.
• Central Missouri is 64-1 in the last 65 non-conference home games at the Multipurpose Building.

MULES ON THE ROAD
• The Mules were 4-9 in road games last season and are 10-12 on the road in Doug Karleskint's first two seasons at the helm.

MULES IN NEUTRAL SITE GAMES
• The Mules are 7-2 in neutral site games under Doug Karleskint after posting a 2-0 mark at the MIAA/NSIC Challenge in the Wisconsin Dells to open the season.

BLOCK PARTY
• Senior Marquiez Lawrence blocked 32 shots last season, tied for the 10th most in a single season in Central Missouri history.
• He is six blocks shy of cracking UCM's career Top 10 list for blocked shots.

A WIN OVER ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH WOULD...
• Give the Mules a 3-0 start for the third straight year under Doug Karleskint and the fourth year overall.
• Give UCM a 3-0 series lead against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
• Give the Mules their first win over a ranked opponent since a 67-66 win over No. 7 Minnesota State on Nov. 14, 2014.
• Snap a two-game road losing streak.

A LOSS TO ARKANSAS-FORT SMITH WOULD...
• Drop the Mules 2-1 overall and in the all-time series with the Lions.
• Give UCM a 2-1 start to the season for the first time since 2012-13.
• Give Central Missouri three straight road losses.

UCM DURING THE KARLESKINT ERA
• Doug Karleskint has a record of 41-22 (.651) in his third season as head coach at Central Missouri and a 130-56 (.699) overall mark in his seventh season as a head coach.
• He became the first Mules' head coach to start his first season at UCM 7-0 when he accomplished the mark in 2014-15.
• His 25 wins in 2014-15 were the most by a first-year head coach in Central Missouri history.
• Karleskint became the fourth Mules' head coach to win at least 20 games in his first season.
• Before coming to UCM, he spent the previous five seasons at Arkansas Tech, including the last four as head coach. He compiled an 89-34 (.724) record with the Wonder Boys with four conference championships and four trips to the NCAA-II National Tournament, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2012.

MULES BASKETBALL HISTORY
• In the 112th season of UCM basketball, the Mules have compiled a 1,656-946 (.636) record in 2,602 total games.
• The Mules are the third winningest program by victories in NCAA-II history.
• Central Missouri is one of just four NCAA-II programs with 1,600 all-time wins.
• The Mules have won 20 or more games 24 times in the history of the program, including each of the last three seasons.
• Central Missouri has won 30 or more games in a season three times (2006-07, 2008-09, and 2013-14).
• UCM has won or shared 24 MIAA regular season championships and five MIAA tournament titles.

THE NEXT LEVEL
• In the past 15 years, 23 former UCM players have gone on to play professional basketball.
• Four players are either currently playing professionally or on a professional roster; Donte Adams (Conejos De Tuxtla (Mexico), Charles Hammork (Kosovo, Ylli Therande), Michael Hicks (Poland, Polpharma-Pakmet), and Zack Wright (Germany, Brose Basket).

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
• Central Missouri has won a combined 207 MIAA regular season conference championships in 14 league sports to lead all schools.
• Last season, UCM captured two MIAA regular season titles, three MIAA Tournament crowns and three NCAA Regional Championships.
• Since 1983, the tenure of Athletic Director Jerry Hughes, UCM has won or shared 153 MIAA championships, more than any other league school.
• Central Missouri has won eight national championships during Hughes' tenure (men's and women's basketball in 1984, baseball in 1994 and 2003, women's bowling in 2003, men's basketball in 2014, and women's indoor and outdoor track & field in 2015) and 10 national championships overall.

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE IN THE CLASSROOM
• Central Missouri had 232 student-athletes named to the 2015-16 MIAA Academic Honor Roll with grade point averages of 3.0 or higher.
• 28 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Scholar Athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA and having earned all-MIAA honors in their respective sport.
• 19 UCM student-athletes were named MIAA Academic Excellence Award winners with a 4.0 GPA.
• UCM had seven student-athletes earn Academic All-Region awards in their respective sports with four of those earning CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
• Since the year 2000, UCM is sixth in NCAA-II with 53 Academic All-Americans.
• Two UCM student-athletes were awarded prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships last year.

MULES BASKETBALL ON THE AIR
• Central Missouri basketball is broadcast live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar, and online at warrensburgradio.com. Games are broadcast by 1450 KOKO/98.5 The Bar Sports Director, Greg Hassler and Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Mike Knipper.
• The Doug Karleskint Show, presented by Bob Showers of Ameritas Investment Corp., live from Traditions Restaurant airs on Tuesday nights at 6:30 p.m. The Show is hosted by Greg Hassler and is broadcast live from Traditions Restaurant at Mules National Golf Club.

UPCOMING
• The Mules will play their first home game of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against Harris Stowe. Tip-off at the Multi is set for 7 p.m.
• UCM stays home after the Thanksgiving break to host in-region foe SW Oklahoma State on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Multipurpose Building.