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Championship Game / South-Central Regional
Central Missouri 98
Southwest Baptist 63

Sanijay Watts shoots over Matt Rogers on his way to MVP honors in the regional

The No. 6 University of Central Missouri Mules put together a near perfect performance, blowing out the seventh-ranked Southwest Baptist Bearcats 98-63 in front of a crowd of 4,895 for the South Central Region Championship.

Central Missouri (29-4) led from start to finish in the game and didn’t allow an SBU bucket until the 14:40 mark of the opening period, starting with game’s first seven points. The stifling Central Missouri defense was present all night, forcing the Bearcats (26-5) into 11 first-half turnovers. The Mules made it 15-2 on a layup by junior guard Tremaine Luellen, and held that advantage until a three by junior center Matt Rogers could cut it to 22-13 with 9:09 left.

UCM came right back though, getting it inside to junior forward Sanijay Watts for a bucket. The Mules got it back to 14 on a couple occasions, but the Bearcats stayed within striking distance on a jumper by Tomas Brock with 52 seconds left to get it down to nine. Junior guard Alex Moosmann drove in for a basket with two seconds left, and sent the Mules into the locker room up 36-25.

UCM used a 21-to-14 rebound advantage in the half, and were led by 10 points from Watts and senior guard Joe Young. Rogers was tops for SBU with five.

Moosmann sparked another Mule run in the second half, getting to the rim for a layup and the foul with 15:10 to go. The Mules hit 7-of-9 threes and shot a blistering 67.7 percent in the final half. They used a 14-2 flurry in a span of two minutes to make a 16 point lead grow into 28 with 8:44 remaining. A three by Young, along with two more by senior guard De’Andre Byrd (pictured at left) sparked the flurry. With five minutes left to play, Central Missouri was up by 30, and with a minute left it was 37 as the shots kept falling and the defense kept forcing SBU misses.

The second half performance saw the Mules use a 26-to-16 rebound advantage, and hold SBU to only 32.6 percent from the floor. Watts, Byrd, and Moosmann all scored in double-figures in the half, helping the Mules to 62 points, just one less than SBU for the entire game.

Rogers finished with 10 points, while D’Ante Harris put up 13 for the Bearcats.

Central Missouri had five players in double-figures led by South Central Regional MVP Watts with 22. Moosmann had 14, while Byrd and Young had 15 apiece. Luellen put up 10 to go with his game-high 11 rebounds.

(Photo's by Dave Kopp)
See more photo's by Dave Kopp