Mules clamp down in second half to reach Final Four

                For the first time since the national title run of 1984, the Central Missouri Mules are back in the NCAA Division II Final Four with an 86-69 romp of Montevallo in the first round of the Elite Eight. UCM used a stellar defensive effort in the second half to pull away and go up by as much as 23 before the final buzzer.
            The two squads battled back and forth in the first half with sixth ranked Central Missouri (31-3) taking a lead into the break. It was a tough road to get there though, as the 13th ranked Falcons (28-6) led by five with 8:13 on the clock. The frame saw seven ties and four lead changes, with the team leaders taking the reins in the period. Zack Wright helped the Mules erase the deficit and get up by as many as seven with a couple minutes to play, as he led the team with 14 in the half. Central Missouri went into the break with a 44-39 advantage.
            Both teams were lights out on offense in the period with the Mules hitting 58 percent from the floor and Montevallo drilling 55 percent. Falcons’ All-American Marcus Kennedy paced his squad with 13. Wadale Williams and Theo Jones played limited minutes in the half because of foul trouble, but came out strong after the break.
            Defense was the key as Central Missouri didn’t allow a UM point until the 15:44 mark of the second stanza. The Mules went on an 8-0 run to open the half and were up by double-digits the rest of the night. With 13:25 to play in the game, Central Missouri was up by 17, and by the 6:18 mark, it was 23. Wright put the UCM crowd into a frenzy with an alley-oop dunk from Williams with 11 minutes remaining. He also got fouled and converted for the three-point play. The Mules had 30 points off turnovers in the game, while the Falcons managed only 11. The only bad news of the game for Central Missouri came with just more than six minutes to play when Jones went down with a left foot injury. He would not return.
            Charles Stoker tabbed a career-high 15 points in the game, going 9-of-11 from the line. Darryl Sommerset helped the Mules get into the transition offense by snagging four steals and grabbing six boards to go with his 16 points. Wright led all scorers with 24 points, going 9-of-12 from the floor.
            For Montevallo, Kennedy finished with 21 while leading scorer and fellow All-American Greg Brown put up 19. The Falcons were held to only 32 percent shooting in the final period.