The Lions (9-4, 3-1 MIAA) went down 11-7 to start the game as the Mules hit five of their first six shots. Southern took its first lead of the game at 16-15 on a layup from Vincent Ateba. Both teams traded points for the next few minutes, before a jumper from UCM's (10-3, 3-1 MIAA) Josiah Miller at the ten minute mark gave the Mules a lead they would hold until the final seconds of the first half.

With the Lions down 41-39, Southern's Tyler Ryerson stole the ball at half court and looked to call a timeout as the halftime buzzer sounded. The officials conferred and gave Southern the timeout and a half a second back on the clock with a chance for one more play. Matt Monroe took the ball at half court and threw in a pass to Tony Webb who turned around and launched a shot from 28 feet that hit nothing but net as the horn sounded, giving the Lions a 42-41 lead going into the locker room.

Southern opened up a 12 point lead (67-55) at the 8:26 mark of the second half on a three pointer from Webb. However, over the next five minutes, Central went on a 18-0 run to go up six (73-67) with 3:20 left. The lead would reach nine after a three from the Mules' Joe Young, but Skyler Bowlin answered right back with a three to stop what was a 21-0 run by the Mules. Two more Central Buckets gave the Mules a 10 point lead (80-70) with 1:44 left.

Octavius Hawkins scored 20 points (18 in the first half) on 8-11 shooting from the field. He had helped propel the Lions to an 11 point advantage with 7:30 left in the game, but left the game with his fourth foul at that point. While Hawkins was off the court, Central started what would be a 28-5 run. Vincent Ateba had 12 points, while Skyler Bowlin scored 11.

Central now extends its NCAA Division II best home court winning streak to 31 games. The Mules were led by 18 points from Young on 6-9 shooting from the field, 4-6 from long range and 2-2 from the charity stripe. Tremaine Luellen also went 6-9 from the field and scored 14 points.

The Lions shot 59 percent from the field in the first half, but could only make 35 percent in the second half. For the first time this season, the Lions didn't steal the ball more than their opponents as both Southern and the Mules picked up nine steals on the afternoon.

The Lions and the Mules are tied at 3-1 atop the MIAA and Southern can be no worse than tied for first after the completions of tonight's games. The Lions will be back in action on Wednesday, January 16 when they travel to Maryville to take on Northwest Missouri at 7:30 pm.