The Missouri Western men’s basketball team had four players in double figures cruising to an 86-68 victory over the 8th ranked NAIA squad Midland University Warriors. Adarius Fulton dumped in 17 first half points while Dzenan Mrkaljevic scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. The Griffons improve to 2-1 on the season with the victory.

The Griffons used a 23-8 run in the final 10:29 of the first half to claim a 13 point lead at 39-26 at the half over the Warriors. The Griffons were helped by Fulton’s 17 points with 15 coming off long range shots. The five three’s for Fulton ties his career high. He finished going 6-for-10 from the field and 5-of-8 from long range.

The Griffons had 12 points in the paint and eight points off six offensive rebounds. The made 14-of-31 shots and connected on 5-of-8 free throw attempts. Cortrez Colbert had four assists while Fulton had four steals in the frame.

The Warriors made just 10-of-24 field goals and 3-of-6 from long range and the charity stripe. They were led by Hadley Sejkora with six points while Galen Gullie and Jalen Hueser had three rebounds apiece.

The Griffons came out in the second as hot as they ended the first half building its lead to 23 at 53-30 after a Colbert three with 16:20 to play in the second half. The Warriors made a push midway through the second half cutting the Griffon lead to 13 at 71-58, but the Griffons went  on another big run ending any hopes of a Midland comeback.

The Griffons finished the night making 43.5-percent (10-23) long range shots and 50.0-percent (29-58) frmo the field. The Griffons did struggle a little bit from the free throw line making just 18-of-32. Colbert and Devers finished with 14 and 12 points respectively. The Griffons had 16 assists with Colbert and Fulton dishing out six and five respectively. Fulton finished with six of the Griffons 14 steals which was one shy of his career best.

The Warriors fall to 3-1 on the season as they had three players in double digits with Montrel Billups scoring 15 on 6-of-9 shooting. DJ Vaughn and Marcus Franklin had 13 and 12 points respectively.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, November 15 as they host the William Jewell Cardinals in the 22nd annual Hillyard Tipoff Classic. Game time is set for 8:00 pm in the MWSU Fieldhouse.

— MWSU Sports Information —