The Mules held on in the second half to ultimately come out on top, with a final score of 69-59. During the second half, foul trouble affected the top scorers of both teams. UCM’s DeAirius Barker received four fouls and was off the court for large periods of time. Trey Phipps of the Riverhawks also fouled out with 0:51 on the clock, costing the Riverhawks their best scorer.

  The Mules started off strong in the second half, extending their lead to 17 within the first 13 minutes. This lead was largely thanks to a 7-0 run from 15:30 to 13:00 on the clock. The Mules continued to benefit from strong performances by several players, including DeAirius Barker and Elijah Farr, who earned 25 and 16 points respectively. K J Lee also had eight rebounds.

  Central Missouri started to struggle as they entered the latter part of the second half. The Riverhawks began to implement a full court press and top scorer De’Airius Barker got into foul trouble. As a result, the Mules offense struggled to pick up points, allowing the Riverhawks to start to close the lead. Ultimately, the Riverhawks’ efforts were not enough, as the Mules left the game with a lead of 69-59.

  The University of Central Missouri led in the first half against the Riverhawks. The score at halftime was 34-23. UCM was especially successful in three point shooting, making five three point shots in the first half. The Mules were led in three-point scoring by guard DeAirius Barker, who made four field goals from beyond the arc and 19 points total in the first half. Other significant stat lines from this half include the Mules shooting 9-11 from the free throw line and leading rebounds 18-11.

  UCM won the toss before starting the quarter off slowly, scoring six points to the Riverhawks’ eight in the first five minutes and going 2/9 from the field. UCM shot primarily from beyond the arc with all of their points at the time coming from three pointers.

  UCM showed more life in the next 10 minutes, at one point going on an 8-0 run. DeAirius Barker aided largely in these efforts, scoring 15 points in the first 10 minutes and going 4-5 from beyond the arc during the first 15 minutes. The Mules headed into the final five minutes of the half up 22-17. 

  The Mules exited the half on a strong note with help from their forward Elijah Farr, who earned 8 points to end the half. They entered halftime having extended their lead to 11. The Mules also excelled at free throws during this period.