By ALEX AGUEROS
Sports Editor
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Another season of Central Missouri Mules basketball tipped off Friday evening, Nov. 13. For the first time in three years, the Mules opened their season at home in the Multipurpose building to host a regional round-robin tournament in Warrensburg.
Sophomore guard Spencer Reaves drives past a Concordia-St. Paul defender. Reaves finished with five points and had three of the team’s 10 steals.
The Mules began their season with a 78-60 win over Minnesota- Duluth in the first ever meeting between the programs.
Minnesota-Duluth led just once, a 4-3 advantage two minutes into the game. The Bulldogs trailed by 4 at halftime, and were within one point of the Mules with 17:51 to play. A Central Missouri 26-9 run followed. The Mules shot 58.6 percent (17-of-29) in the second half to separate themselves from their Northern Sun opponents.
Head coach Doug Karleskint said, at times, the team played up to their high potential.
“We had spurts where we were really good,” Karleskint said. “We had spurts where we showed why we were excited coming into the year.”
Freshman center Jakob Lowrance led the Mules with 13 points on 6 of 6 shooting and five rebounds in 21 minutes. Sophomore guard Spencer Reaves also scored 13 on 5 of 12 shooting and had a team-high five assists in 34 minutes.
Reaves, a transfer from South Carolina’s North Greenfield University, said he had fun in his first game as a Mule.
“We played at a great pace,” Reaves said. “We shared the ball well, and it was fun. I’m glad to be a Mule.”
Four Mules from last year’s team – Brad Woodson, Garrett Sandbothe, Kyle Wolf and Tony Cochran – logged minutes in the game and none started.
Junior forward Marquiez Lawrence’s dunk – the first of the season – gave UCM a 12-6 lead early in the first half. Redshirt junior guard Brad Woodson chipped in five points in the first half and finished with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting and five rebounds.
Senior forward Scott Roosevelt started the game and led the team with 8 rebounds in 19 minutes and scored 8 points on 2 of 8 shooting.
Mules 2-0 after win over Concordia-St. Paul
Senior Central Missouri guard Roosevelt Scott attended high school less than 10 miles away from the campus of Concordia- St. Paul. He had a game to write home about in a 77-52 victory over the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears Saturday afternoon.
Scott scored a game-high 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals in 27 minutes. He said he enjoyed facing a team based so close to his family.
“Oh, it was fun playing against them,” Scott said. “Playing against a team that’s from where my mom stays. You know, so they can go home and talk about the chit-chatter. ‘Who did this and who did that,’ It’s fun. And for us to get the win, it’s big.”
The rest of the Mules played like they were having fun, too.
Freshman starting center Jakob Lawrance, listed at 6-feet-8 inches and 270 pounds, hit a three-pointer for the first points of the game. He missed another attempt on the next possession. He finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Senior guard D’Marnier Cunningham had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists while fellow senior guard Tony Cochran was 3-of-4 from three and finished with 11 points. Junior forward Marquiez Lawrence scored eight points and had nine rebounds.
Central Missouri (2-0) used a 13-0 run to pull away from the Golden Bears and led 20-9 10 minutes into the game. Defense triggered the streak. The Mules scored 18 points on turnovers and had 10 steals as a team.
The Mules led the Golden Bears by as much as 30.
Concordia-St. Paul shot 22 percent (5-for- 23) from the field in the first half and trailed 36-16 at halftime. No Golden Bear scored in double digits. Senior guard Cole Olstad led the team with 9 points on 3 of 11 shooting.
Karleskint said team defense could be a positive trait this season because the roster is quicker than last year’s.
“You can eliminate a lot of (defensive) mistakes by just flying around, having fun and being active on defense,” Karleskint said. “I thought our activity, especially in the first half, was really good. It’s a much quicker team to the ball this year than last year, and it needs to be a strength of ours.”
Saturday’s victory concluded the round robin tournament in which Central Missouri hosted regional non-conference opponents East Central, Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota-Duluth. Competition began Friday.
Central Missouri Jennies hosted William Jewel and the Mules hosted Rockhurst Wednesday, Nov. 18 in the season’s first double-header and did not conclude before press time.
