Mules basketball saw their hopes of winning the MIAA Tournament perish in a 72-68 defeat at the hands of the University of Central Oklahoma on Friday night at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.

A slow start doomed the Mules who were without starting guard D.J. Richardson.

“He’s an extremely versatile player, probably our best guy off the dribble and finishing at the rim,” Mules head coach Doug Karleskint said. “And he takes a lot of pressure off of Spencer.”

The Bronchos started hot in the first half making their first four shots and used an 11-0 run to go up 18-6 in the first 10 minutes of the half. A desperation 3-pointer by Spencer Reaves as the shot clock expired ended the run. The Mules followed with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to seven, but Bronchos guard Marquis Johnson hit two consecutive threes to push the score to 26-13.  Central Missouri shot a woeful 35 percent in the first half to Central Oklahoma’s 52 percent and trailed 30-20 at the break.

“They got off to a really great start making their first four or five shots, it really put us in a hole that we couldn’t crawl out of,” Karleskint said.

Mules guard Matt Wilkinson opened the scoring in the second half putting up five quick points to cut the lead to five. Central Oklahoma kept the Mules from cutting too far into the lead with eight consecutive points and led 48-33 ten minutes into the half. Bronchos center Jake Hammond put the Mules comeback hopes to rest with an alley-oop slam after they cut the lead to seven. Central Missouri was never able to get a lead and trailed by.

Reaves did everything he could to keep the Mules within reach making tough shots down the stretch. He finished with 29 points and shot an absurd 7-10 from long range in what was his last game as a Mule.

“I have confidence in myself to make those shots and we ran some good sets, so I could get those good looks,” Reaves said.

Wilkinson put up 19 and was the Mules only other double-digit scorer.

“You never want to feel how we feel right now, but we’ll be in the gym as soon as we get back,” Wilkinson said.

The loss ended the Mules hopes of being selected for the NCAA Central Region Tournament after a promising start to the season that included two separate five-game winning streaks. Less than a month ago, they were 19-4 and vying for second place in the conference. A dismal five-game stretch of uncharacteristic losses flipped the tone of the season completely.