WARRENSBURG, Mo. - After a back-and-forth first half, Central Missouri pulled away in the second as the Lincoln men's basketball team dropped its MIAA opener, 72-59, on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 5).

Derrick Woods led LU with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Destan Williams provided 10 points, four boards, an assist and a steal. Chuck Wilson had a team-high eight rebounds to go with three points and a steal.

Lincoln (1-5, 0-1 MIAA) and Cental Missouri (4-1, 1-0 MIAA) exchanged the lead eight times during the opening half, with John Gaines breaking a 13-13 tie with a pair of free throws with 9:24 until the break. Mekhi Kimble followed with a layup for a four-point Blue Tiger lead, but a jumper followed by a trey gave the lead back to UCM. Kimble ended the day with four points, two boards, an assist and a steal. Gaines, meanwhile, had a block and two boards to go with his free throws.

The Mules built their lead to seven with a minute remaining in the half, but Mark Boland hit a shot from downtown and Alafia Oluwasogo hit a pair of buckets at the line to cut the UCM lead to 28-26. The Mules later made a free throw to take a three-point lead into intermission. Boland additionally contributed a rebound and an assist to the Lincoln cause while Oluwasogo finished with four points and a pair of rebounds.

While the first half was a closely-contested affair, the second half belonged to the Mules, as Central Missouri used a pair of three-pointers to build its lead to nine. UCM led by as many as 22 at one point, but Lincoln fought back to cut the deficit down to 10 on an Oluwasogo layup. Lincoln would get no closer, however, as the Mules made five free throws down the stretch to preserve its lead.

Chris Baldwin scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds, and Josh Wallace provided seven points and seven boards. Ni'Sean Rigmaiden closed the scoring with five points, four boards, an assist and a steal.

Lincoln next plays on Thursday (Dec. 9) as the Blue Tigers return to Jefferson City to host Missouri Western at 7:30 p.m. CST.