• Adobe Acrobat .PDF file
• Microsoft Word .DOC file

---

Mules struggle past Hannibal LaGrange
for home victory

Joe Young scored eight straight points to open the second half

It wasn’t pretty, but the University of Central Missouri Mules grabbed a 65-54 decision over the Hannibal LaGrange Trojans on Wednesday night at the Multi.

UCM shot only 37 percent from the floor and got out-rebounded by five, but turned 17 HLC turnovers into 25 points to get the win. The Mules allowed the Trojans to score only four points off six turnovers.

Central Missouri (4-0) started the game off slow as they let the Trojans jump out to a 5-0 lead and didn’t score until the 17:33 mark. UCM took its first lead of the half on a three pointer by Josiah Miller a couple minutes later but couldn’t shake HLC. The Trojans never got behind by more than seven points and frustrated the Mules with their zone defense. It went into the half with UCM leading 29-24, the fewest amount of points scored by the Mules in a half this year.

Central Missouri was led by Kevin Wollbrinck with eight points on 8-of-8 free throw shooting at the break. The Trojans held a slight shooting edge over the Mules with a 35-to-32 percent advantage.

 Joe Young took over early in the second half though, scoring the first eight points of the period in less than two minutes. Central Missouri would lead by double-figures the rest of the night and stretched the advantage to as many as 22 with 6:22 remaining on another Young jumper.

The Trojans fought back late to trim the lead to 11 by the final buzzer. The key to the second half was the turnovers though. The Mules committed only one miscue while forcing HLC into nine on the other end.

Wollbrinck finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds while Young tallied 12 points in 18 minutes and hit his first five shots of the game (finished 5-of-6). Miller also dished out five assists to lead the Mules.