UNK Men Fall At The Buzzer 59-57 vs Central Missouri

Kearney, Neb. – Senior guard DeAirius Baker made a layup with 4.6 seconds left, capping a game-ending 19-4 run, to help Central Missouri get past Nebraska Kearney, 59-57, Saturday evening at the Health & Sports Center.

The Mules (5-3, 1-1) and Lopers (1-7, 0-2) will meet again January 30th with UCM having now won three straight in the series.

UNK led for 30 minutes and held its biggest advantage with just 4:26 left at 53-40. At that point, the Lopers were shooting close to 50% from the field with the Mules not even at 30%. However, the tides changed over the next 3:25 as UCM went 7 of 9 from the field while UNK committed seven straight turnovers.

A 17-0 run began with an offensive rebound and a subsequent jumper from freshman guard Kyran Tilley. That allowed the Mules to slap on a full court press which flummoxed the Lopers down the stretch. By the time the run was complete, it was 57-53 with 1:01 remaining.

Junior guard Ja'Bryant Hill (Duncanville, Texas) stopped UNK's bleeding with a layup and then followed with a steal at the 27 second mark. His two free throws seconds later tied things up for just the second time all day. UCM called a timeout to set up the final play which resulted in Barker getting a screen along the left wing, allowing him to drive to the bucket.

The Lopers forgo calling a timeout with lefty graduate guard Allen Taylor (Rogers, Ark.) getting a running, right wing three off in front of the Lopers bench before the buzzer sounded. However, it hit the front of the iron.

Thanks to making eight of its last nine shots, UCM finished 36% from the field while scoring 27 points off a season-high 22 UNK turnovers. The Lopers were plus four on the glass, made 22 of 44 shots, and went 8 of 9 at the line.

Tilley (13), Barker (10) and 6-7 senior wing KJ Lee (10) combined for 33 points with the Mules coming up with 11 steals and 11 o-boards. Both Lee and Tilley made two threes with four Mules between four and six boards.

For UNK, Taylor and Hill were at 12 points apiece with redshirt junior Kendrick Gilbert (St. Louis) at 11 and redshirt freshman Clayton Moore (Mullen) supplying 10. Gilbert added a team-best eight rebounds with Moore at seven and Hill at four assists and two steals.

With finals coming up, the Lopers are now off until December 20 when former RMAC rival Regis comes to town.