WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Jan. 28, 2017) --
Marquiez Lawrence tied his career-high with 21 points and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and three other Mules scored in double figures as Central Missouri beat Washburn 87-71 on Saturday afternoon at the Multi. The win was the fifth straight for the Mules.
The Mules (14-5, 8-3 MIAA) came racing out of the gates, scoring the first 10 points of the game and 17 of the first 19 to lead 17-2 with 14:25 to play in the half. The lead grew to 17 at 22-5 on buckets from
Kyle Wolf and
Spencer Reaves and a free throw from
Brad Woodson. That's when Washburn (14-6, 6-5 MIAA) started its comeback. The Ichabods scored five straight points to pull within 12, then following a bucket from
Marquiez Lawrence, they scored 13 straight to cut the lead to 24-23 with 5:35 left in the first half.
DJ Richardson hit a three to push the UCM lead back to three only to see the lead dip back to one. Again, Richardson hit a three and the Mules led 32-28 with 3:01 to play. Javion Blake scored on a layup and Drew Pyle hit a three to give Washburn its first lead of the game at 33-32 with 1:11 left in the half, but
Matt Wilkinson buried an open three and the Mules led 35-33 at halftime.
Brady Skeens scored out of halftime to pull WU within one, but Lawrence scored on a layup and Reaves hit a three-pointer to push the UCM lead to 40-34. The Ichabods fought back and pulled to within one again, 42-41, on a pair of free throws from Skeens, but
Clarence Smith and Wolf hit back-to-back threes and the Mules led 48-41 with 14:37 to play. Washburn cut the lead to five on a triple from Pyle, but Woodson hit four straight free throws to give UCM a 53-44 lead.
The lead was seven when Lawrence made four straight free throws and Smith buried another three-pointer to push the lead to 14 at 60-46 with 10:17 to play. Later, a jumper from Reaves and two free throws from Smith gave the Mules their largest lead of the night, 65-48, with 8:50 to play. The lead never dipped below 11 the rest of the way as the Mules won their fifth straight game.
Lawrence finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds. He scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half as the Mules pulled away. Reaves finished with 19 points and eight assists, while Wolf had 16 points and six boards and Richardson chipped in 10 points.
UCM shot 47 percent for the game (27-58) including 11 made three-pointers as they shot 37 percent (11-30) from beyond the arc. The Mules were 22-of-26 at the free throw line for 85 percent and out-rebounded Washburn 32-28. UCM had 18 assists on their 27 made baskets and turned the ball over just seven times.
Skeens led five Ichabods in double figures with 14 points and nine rebounds. Randall Smith had 11 points, while Blake, Pyle and Isaac Clark all finished with 10. WU was 23-of-49 from the field for 47 percent. The Ichabods shot 41 percent (9-22) from three-point range and made 16-of-20 at the charity stripe for 80 percent.
The Mules hit the road for the next three games, starting on Thursday night, Feb. 2 when they take on Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Tip-off at Hamilton Field House is set for 7:30 p.m.
