(JOPLIN, Mo.) — The Central Missouri Mules shot 59 percent from the field and held off a late Missouri Southern charge for a 97-92 win at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. The win improves UCM’s record to 19-4 overall, 11-3 in MIAA play and clinches a spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament.

Central Missouri jumped out to an early 10-6 leading hitting four of the first five shots from the field. The Lions (15-5, 9-4 MIAA) used a 10-5 spurt to take their first lead of the game, 16-15, with 14:35 left in the half, but an 8-0 run by UCM gave the Mules a 23-16 lead with 13:08 left in the opening period.

MSSU scored six quick points to pull within one, but UCM quickly pushed the lead back to six. The lead was still six, 34-28, at the 8:28 mark when the Lions went on a 6-0 run to tie the game with just over five minutes to play in the first half. The Mules took a 40-38 lead, but Missouri Southern closed the half on a 6-1 run to lead 44-41 at the intermission.

The Mules opened second half red hot, scoring 20 points in the first 7:33 of the stanza to take a 10-point lead, 61-51, with 13:27 left in the game. Central Missouri pushed the lead to 11 with just under 12 minutes to play in the game, but the Lions kept themselves in it from the free throw line. MSSU went 9:15 without a field goal in the second half, but scored 13 points at the charity stripe between buckets and only trailed by six with 6:33 to play.

A three-pointer from Daylen Robinson pushed the lead back to nine at the 5:59 mark and later a steal and layup by Charles Hammork pushed the lead to 11. The Mule lead was 10 with 3:36 to play, but four straight points from MSSU cut the lead to six with 2:47 remaining. Robinson hit a jumper and after the teams traded free throws, Lane Barlow hit a three to cut UCM’s lead to five with 1:29 to play in regulation.

The Lions cut the lead to three on a Marquis Addison trey with :57 to play, but four free throws for the Mules pushed the lead back to seven, 95-88, with 24 seconds remaining. The Lions would get back to within four at the :10 mark, but UCM beat MSSU for the second time in a week and earned the hard fought MIAA win.

Dillon Deck led four Mules in double figures with a game-high 24 points on 10 of 11 shooting. He also added a team-high nine rebounds. Hammork finished with 19 points, while Robinson had 17 and Ryan Magdziarz chipped in 12 off the bench.

The Mules were 32 of 54 from the field for 59 percent and 9 of 16 from three-point range for 56 percent. UCM was 24 of 32 at the foul line for 75 percent.

The Lions were led by Addison’s 21 points. Jordan Talbert and Slim Magee each had 19, while Magee added 10 boards for a double-double. Cameron Cornelius had 11 points as well.

The Mules had 13 assists in the game, but turned the ball over 14 times. MSSU had 14 assists and 11 turnovers. UCM held a 38-30 advantage in points in the paint, but the Lions pulled down 18 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second chance points.

With the win, the Mules secured a spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament.

UCM is back in action next Wednesday, February 12 hosting Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The game can be heard live on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 The Bar and warrensburgradio.com with Greg Hassler on the call. A pay-per-view student-run webcast is also available through the UCM Media Network. The webcast can be accessed at AmericaOneSports.com.

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