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Mules steal their way past St. Mary's

Skip Thomas finished with a game high 14 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks

The University of Central Missouri Mules used a stellar defensive effort to post a 64-42 regional win Saturday over St. Mary’s (Texas) University in the Multi. The Mules were three steals shy of the school record with a total of 21 on the day.

The Mules (5-0) jumped into the lead early and never looked back as there were no ties or lead changes in the game. UCM continued its dominance at home with its national best 28th consecutive win at the Multi. Central Missouri also held St. Mary’s to a season-low 42 points, the fewest since the Mules held St. Edward’s to 39 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Mules scored the first six points of the game before St. Mary’s would cut to one at 8-7. Central Missouri countered that with another run though, and this time it would be too much for the Rattlers. A 12-0 spurt moved the lead to 13 and the Mules would lead by double-digits the rest of the night.

UCM went into the break with a commanding 38-19 lead on 46 percent shooting, while forcing STMU into 15 turnovers and 33 percent from the floor. The Mules also dominated on the glass with a 19-to-11 advantage. Tremaine Luellen led all scorers in the half with eight points while eight different players combined for 13 steals.

The Mules kept their foot on the gas for the first 11 minutes of the second stanza, moving the lead to as much as 28 before bringing in the bench late. The exclamation point came at the 3:16 mark though, when Skip Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and slammed home a thunderous, crowd pleasing dunk. He was the show in the final period, scoring eight points and pulling down six boards to go with his three blocks. Joe Young also heated up, tallying seven second period points.

Despite hitting only 30 percent of its shots in the final half, UCM forced 11 more turnovers and held the Rattlers to only 38 percent.

Thomas led all players on the day with 14 points, nine rebounds (seven offensive), and four blocks. Young was the only other double-figure performer in the game with 11 as no St. Mary players cracked the mark. Kevin Wollbrinck led the steals race with five as the Mules scored 31 points off turnovers in the game.