WARRENSBURG, Mo. (Nov. 10, 2018) - Central Missouri Mules Basketball made it a 2-0 home opening weekend with a 73-67 comeback win against Wayne State.
How it Happened
• The Mules poured in 41 second half points after being down five, 36-31, at the break. The Mules trailed by as many as 15 midway through the first half.
• Central Missouri shot 49% for the game, helped out by going 14-for-26 in the second half. The Wildcats hit 24-52 from the field for 46.2%.
• The Mules hit two more three pointers in the six-point game.
• The teams were very close in all aspects of the game. UCM won rebounding by two, 28-26, but had two more turnovers, 18-16.
• Central Missouri scored 30 points in the paint while the Wildcats got 26. The Mules added 22 bench points while Wayne State got 16 from non-starters.
• It was a raucous start with the teams trading baskets at the outset. Wayne State went on a 13-2 run and took a 10-point lead, 18-8, to force a UCM timeout a the 13:34 mark.
• The Wildcats three times got to leads of 15, including as late as 5:01 left in the first half. UCM made a run at the end of the stanza, scoring 11 of the final 14 first half points to cut the lead down to five at the break.
Blake Spellman scored five points in the run and
Gaven Pinkley added a big dunk with 30 seconds to play.
• In the early stages of the second, the Wildcats pushed the lead back to 11 with a Kendall Jacks three making it 43-32. It took the Mules though less than four minutes to retie the game back at 45-45 with a 13-2 spurt. Spellman again played a role in the stretch with a three-point play and tied the game with one from behind the arc.
• The game went back-and-forth with five ties and three lead changes in the second half. After Wayne State took a one-point lead, 52-51,
Jakob Lowrance put UCM on top sinking a pair of free throws at the 7:30 mark and the Mules led the rest of the way.
• While UCM led for the final 7:30, the lead never got to be more than six. Vance Janssen kept it a one-point game, 62-61, with a three with 4:04 left to play. He was quickly answered though as
Brandon Emmert had a tip-in put-back and Spellman hit another big three.
• With under a minute remaining, UCM turned the ball over under their basket and Janssen was there again to cut the six-point lead to four, 69-65, with 34 seconds left to play. Wayne State had a chance to make it a one-possession game after another UCM timeout, but missed a three and
Daniel Farris scooped up the rebound and sank two free throws.
• In the final seconds, leading again by four, Spellman broke the Wildcat press with a long outlet pass to a wide-open
James Byrd who put in an easy layup for our final 73-67.
It Was Over When...
• The Mules had just turned the ball over twice in the final minute and the Wildcats had the chance to make it a one-point game.
Daniel Farris picked up a big rebound off of a missed three and calmly sank his only two free throw attempts of the game with 20 seconds left to put UCM back on top by six, 71-65.
Mules Stat Leaders
•
Blake Spellman and
Jafar Kinsey led the way with 16 points each and three field goals from deep. Spellman also picked up three rebounds and passed out three assists.
•
Jakob Lowrance fell a rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
•
Brandon Emmert was a big help off the bench with eight points of 4-of-6 shooting and three rebounds.
•
James Byrd also came off the bench to score six.
For the Wildcats
• Trevin Joseph led all scorers with 20 points.
• Kendall Jacks added 17.
• Vance Janssen scored 10 and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds and passed out five assists.
• Nick Ferrarini and Tony Bonner each had seven points off the bench.
News and Notes
• The Mules played nine in this game and all nine scored at least three points.
• In the second half, Wayne State was just 2-of-12 from three.
• Central Missouri has started 2-0 each of Coach Karleskint's five years at UCM.
• The Mules have hit nine three's in each of the first two games and missed only one free throw in each.
• UCM's defense is holding opponents to just 15-45 from three in the first two games.
Up Next
• Central Missouri will stay right here next week. They host the Fairfield Inn Classic next Friday-Saturday and will take on William Jewell and Illinois-Springfield.
