Mules guard Zack Wright drives to the baseline during the first half of Frdiay's game against Bacone. The senior led the Mules with 18 points and five assists. (Photo by Dave Kopp)

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Dominating with defense, 17th ranked Central Missouri rolled up an 82-48 victory over Bacone College Friday, the first night of the Holiday Inn Express/KOKO/Mike FM Thanksgiving Classic at the Multipurpose Building. The Mules improved to 3-0, the Warriors fell to 3-3.

UCM led for all but 37 seconds of the opening minute and never trailed. Bacone stayed close thanks to some hot shooting early, but the Mules took control with an 11-0 run that pushed the advantage to 22 with 1:26 to play in the first half.

“Early on, (Bacone) did a pretty good job,” UCM head coach Kim Anderson said. “They came out with some energy and I thought we missed some shots that we normally make. But, our defense eventually stirred things up and we were able to get up by 18 at halftime.”

“We were doing some dumb stuff on offense,” added center Alonzo Brooks. “We were kind of careless with the ball. Coach told us to step it up and we did better.”

UCM forward Darryl Sommerset pops a jumper during the first half of Friday's win over Bacone. Sommerset had 13 points and six rebounds in the 82-48 win. (Photo by Dave Kopp)

Early in the second half, Central Missouri put the game out of reach with a 20-2 run. The Mules led by as many as 37 points and maintained a 30-plus points advantage the rest of the way as Anderson gave his bench players some valuable playing time.

“In the locker room, we really appealed to our guys about getting after it in the second half and trying to handle the basketball a little bit better,” Anderson said. “We wanted to try to reverse the ball a little more and get the shots we get in practice. I thought that first six or eight minutes, we really did that and the guys who came in off the bench did a really good job handling the basketball.

“I wanted to play a lot of guys because we turn around and play again tomorrow. When the lead got to the mid 30s, we subbed in a lot of guys. These guys need to play and get experience and the guys who have been playing needed some rest for tomorrow night.”

UCM reserve guard Kevin Wollbrinck drives the lane during the second half of Friday's win over Bacone. The junior scored four points with five rebounds and three assists. (Photo by Dave Kopp)

Defensively, UCM forced 30 turnovers, made 15 steals and blocked four shots. Offensively, the Mules had 24 assists and committed only five turnovers.

“In the second half, we stepped on the gas and played pretty good defense,” senior guard Zack Wright said. “We got out on a pretty good run and let the other guys come in and continue to lead. Defense was the key factor to this game and has been the key factor in all three of the games we’ve played.”

Wright led a balanced attach with 18 points, five assists and three steals. Darryl Sommerset added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks, Charles Stoker tallied 12 points and Theo Jones chipped in 10 points with three assists.

Central Missouri will wrap up play in the Classic Saturday, taking on Eastern New Mexico. The Greyhounds thumped Tabor College 78-56 in Friday’s first game.

“They’re obviously the best team we’ve played so far,” Anderson said. “They’ve got good athletes, we played them last year and they’re a similar team this year. This is a team that will be very difficult to play.”

“It’s going to take determination, hard work and good defense,” added Stoker. “We know our defense can create offensive points for us, so we want to buckle down, guard them. And rebound. Defensive rebounds will be the key for us.”

Tabor and Bacone play Saturday at 5 p.m. with the Mules and Eastern New Mexico to follow at 7:00.