(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – The Mules basketball team had a busy winter break, playing in six contests. The break began with the toughest test of the Mules’ season with the nation’s top ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The Bearcats were dominant in a 79-55 victory, but the Mules weren’t discouraged and followed the loss with five straight wins, four of which came against conference foes, making their overall record 12-2.

Now the Mules will put that five game streak on the line against the team that sparked it when they travel to Maryville Thursday to face the Bearcats in their final regular season matchup, tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The once undefeated Bearcats have suffered a loss in the month since these teams first met and now sport a 13-1 record.

The key to this game is the Mules need to shoot like they did in the second half in their first meeting with the Bearcats. UCM shot a dismal 25 percent from the field in the first half of last month’s contest, but came out in the second half and improved that number to 47 percent while adding an impressive 60 percent from long range.

The Mule to watch Thursday is senior guard Spencer Reaves, who led the way with 19 points and five rebounds when these teams last played. Reaves has also scored in double digits in his last four games. Also pay attention to senior guard D.J. Richardson who has been on a roll lately scoring his season high of 22 points against Missouri Valley during this five-game win streak.

On the other side, senior guard Justin Pitts will be the Bearcat to watch. Pitts is following up his junior season in which he was the Division II National Player of the Year with perhaps an even better showing. His 29 points in Warrensburg last month were a game high and he rarely missed shooting 11-13 from the field.

The Mules will stay on the road for the rest of the week as they travel to St. Joseph to take on Missouri Western in their second meeting of the season; in which the Mules won the first game 67-51 Dec. 14.

If you want to catch the Mules here in Warrensburg, you’ll have to wait until Thursday, Jan. 18, when Lincoln University comes to town, that game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Building.