WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Feb. 18, 2017)-- Mules Basketball dropped its second straight game as they fell at home to Lindenwood, 59-51, Saturday afternoon in the Multi. The Mules held the Lions (20-10, 9-8 MIAA) to just eight made field goals in the second half, but could not overcome a 10-point halftime deficit.

The Mules (17-8, 11-6 MIAA) did not score a field goal in the first half until 14:16, when Marquiez Lawrence put down an uncontested dunk to bring the score to 7-4, Lions. Clarence Smith added two more points at 9:53 with a tough layup in the lane to keep UCM within three, 9-6. The Lions responded going on 13-0, pushing their three-point lead to 16, 22-6. The Mules cut the deficit to nine, 22-13, with a 7-0 run, five of which came from a Richardson three and a pair of free throws. The Lions led 27-17 going into halftime.

Lindenwood pushed their lead to 13 in the second half after Jackson Price scored on back-to-back possessions. He hit a layup at 18:07 then came down 31 seconds later and nailed a three, giving the Lions the 32-19 advantage. UCM responded going on an 8-0 run. DJ Richardson scored six of the eight points for the Mules hitting two three-point shots. The Mules got within four, trailing 33-29.

The Lions answered the Mules run with 10-1 run of their own, pushing their lead back to 13, 43-30. Price sparked it with a three at the 13:51 mark. Zac Haese and Rayko Dundalov also added threes during the run. The Mules only point in the run came from a Spencer Reaves free throw.

The Mules got within six, 47-41, after a made layup by Eric Locke at 4:44, but the Mules went scoreless for over three minutes before they scored again. Reaves hit a layup with a just under a minute and a half remaining in the game and the Mules immediately started fouling to save clock. The Lions held off the Mules shooting 9-of-10 at the free throw line to secure the win.

DJ Richardson led the Mules in scoring 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting, while going 3-of-6 from behind the three-point line. He also dished out four assists, had four steals, finished 5-of-6 from the charity strip. Spencer was the only other player for UCM to break double-digits scoring 11 points. Lawrence and Kyle Wolf each pulled down six rebounds to lead the Mules.  

UCM was just 18-of-47 for the game for 38 percent, and made 5-of-16 three-point attempts for 31 percent.

Chandler Diekvoss led the way for Lindenwood scoring a game-high 18 points, while shooting 7-of-13 from the field. Jackson Price was the only other Lion to break double figures adding 13 points of 5-of-9 shooting. The Lions outrebounded the Mules 34-26.

The Mules will head to Joplin on Thursday, Feb. 23, for their final MIAA road game to take on Missouri Southern. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.