The Missouri Western men’s basketball team continued its struggles falling 72-60 against the Central Missouri Mules. Griffon head coach Tom Smith coached his last regular season game at the Multipurpose Building a place where he coached from 1975-80 to begin his career. The Griffons fall to 7-10 overall and 3-6 in MIAA play.

On an emotional night for Smith the Griffons got off to a good start scoring the first four points of the game. The next five minutes belonged to the Mules catching fire from long range. They made five three’s going on a 19-3 run claiming their largest lead of the half at 19-7 with 14:24 to play in the frame.

The Griffons regained their composure using a run of their own getting back into the game. The Griffons cut the lead to 21-18 with 11:07 to play after an Adarius Fulton fastbreak layup.

The rest of the half was back-and-forth with the Mules outscoring the Griffons by one taking the 35-31 halftime lead.

The Griffons shot 37.8-percent (14-37) from the field but scored 16 points in the paint and 14 off eight Mule turnovers. Cedric Clinkscales led the way with 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Fulton dumped in seven.

The Mules shot 46.2-percent (6-13) from long range with Reggie Stallings leading the way with nine points making 3-of-4 long range shots.

The second half was a struggle defensively for the Griffons as they allowed the Mules to shoot 58.3-percent (14-24) in the frame to pull away from the Griffons. Missouri Western shot 44.0-percent (11-25) in the half but stuggled from long range making just 2-of-10 and from the free throw line connecting on 5-of-12.

In the game MWSU shot 40.3-percent (25-62) from the field and just 19.0-percent (4-21) from long range. They also struggled from the free throw line making just 6-of-14 free throws.

Clinkscales finished with 21 points and six rebounds while Fulton dumped in 17 points. The two combined to make 16-of-30 field goals.

The Mules shot 49-percent (24-49) in the game and made 8-of-20 long range shots. They improve to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in MIAA play. Charles Hammork and Dominique Long scored 13 points while Widgett Washington dumped in 13. Lance Beckwith and Hammork each had eight rebounds.

The Griffons will close out the three game road swing on Saturday, January 26 in Jefferson City, Mo. against the Lincoln Blue Tigers. Game time is set for 3:30 pm from Jason Gym.

— MWSU Sports Information —