Bearcats light it up in second half, defeat Mules 96-78

(Bolivar, Mo.) – The Southwest Baptist Bearcats lit up the scoreboard in the second stanza for 56 points, hitting 10-of-14 from three-point range and 57 percent from the field on their way to a 96-78 win over the No. 12 Central Missouri Mules on Tuesday night in the MIAA opener.
          
Senior point guard Tomas Brock hit for a career-high 32 points (6-of-6 from three) to lead the Bearcat attack, hitting 11 of his 14 shots from the floor.
          
Central Missouri (5-2, 0-1 MIAA) withstood the opening flurry of Southwest Baptist (4-3, 1-0 MIAA), holding it close enough to make a comeback in the first half. The Bearcats built an 11-3 lead in the first 4:13, but the Mules fought back to tie it up at 11 on a three from senior guard Tyrone Young.
Neither team led by more than four the rest of the way, with seven ties and nine lead changes.  UCM got a three from junior guard Reggie Stallings with 1:53 left to give the Mules a 41-40 lead. The Mules would take that advantage into the break.

SBU put up 20 three-point attempts in the half, sinking seven of them, while the Mules hit 5-of-16 attempts. The Mules had a 22-16 edge on the glass in the half, and out-scored the Bearcats 16-8 in the paint.

Senior guard Ryan Harris paced the UCM offense in the opening period, scoring 13 points, while Stallings tallied 10 in the half. Harris put up the effort in only his second game back from injury.
In the second stanza the Mules kept it close, and even led with 12:22 to play on a Harris three, but the Bearcats and Brock took over from there. They pushed it to an eight-point lead by the 9:15 mark on a Tremaine Hill three, and made it 16 by the 6:16 mark on a three from Brock. He scored 23 of his 32 in the final half. Ryan Daugherty was also big for SBU, scoring 22 points, 12 in the second half. He hit five threes on nine attempts.

UCM shot 42.4 percent in the contest, while SBU drilled 50.7 percent, including 17 three-pointers. The Mules were also out-rebounded by one on the night after coming into the contest with a +13.2 rebound margin, while SBU had a -6.0 margin.

The Mules were led by Harris on the night with 23 points, while Boo Hunter put up 19. Stallings and Young rounded out double-figure scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Young also led the Mules with seven boards.

The Mules will be back on the road this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Joplin against Missouri Southern.