The No. 1 Central Missouri Mules rolled in their first game back from the holiday break, taking out Pittsburg State 83-60 on Monday night at John Lance Arena. It was the 10th consecutive win for the Mules in the series.
The Mules (11-0, 4-0 MIAA) took care of business from the start in the first period, jumping out to a 15-5 lead in the opening minutes, paced by eight points from senior forward Sanijay Watts. The Gorillas (6-5, 0-4 MIAA) cut the advantage to 20-15, but back-to-back threes from junior guard Bryce Brunz pushed it back to double digits by the 9:03 mark.
It went back-and-forth for the next four minutes until the Mules went on another run to get that margin to as many as 18 with a little over three minutes left. Ryan Harris had a steal and a fast break lay-in during the rally, and it capped a big first half for him with 10 points. The Mules went into the intermission with a 42-26 advantage.
UCM shot 56.3 percent in the stanza, while holding PSU to no threes and a 42.9 percent clip. The Mules also forced the Gorillas into eight turnovers and had an 18-14 rebound edge. Watts led UCM with 12 to go with Harris’ 10. Leading scorer Spencer Magana led PSU with nine.
The Mules led by 15 with 12:29 left in the final half, but a 10-0 rally sparked by five points from senior guard Alex Moosmann gave them their largest lead of the game. The Gorillas would get no closer than 18 the rest of the way.
Central Missouri shot a blistering 60 percent in the period and held PSU to 41.7 percent. The Mules made it 58.1 percent for the game, including 8-of-16 from three-point land, while holding the Gorillas to a 0-of-5 clip from three-point land. The Gorillas also committed 15 turnovers to the Mules’ eight.
Watts tallied another double-double with a game-high 24 points and 10 boards. Harris put up 18 points, while Moosmann and Brunz each had 13 in the game. Moosmann also had seven assists and only one turnover in the contest.
The Mules will be back in action at home on Saturday against Washburn at 3:30 p.m. Story courtesy of Central Missouri Athletics.
