The Central Methodist University men's basketball team made 11 three-pointers, but was unable to keep pace with the 72.4 percent shooting that MidAmerica Nazarene University recorded as the Pioneers earned a 108-85 win over the Eagles Tuesday night.
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MidAmerica Nazarene led the entire game, taking an 18-11 lead with 13:27 left in the first half. Central Methodist made six straight free throws to come to within one point in the next two minutes. MNU stretched its lead back out to eight points with 8:58 left in the first half, but senior Clint Hamilton (Pflugerville, Texas) scored nine points as CMU went on a 9-2 run to get to within 32-31 with 7:09 remaining in the first half. MidAmerica Nazarene outscored CMU 18-5 in the final seven minutes of the half to take a 50-36 lead into halftime. The Pioneers continued to shoot extremely well in the second half, stretching their lead to as many as 26 points before finishing with the 23-point win.
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Central Methodist shot 36.5 percent from the field in the game, including 11-of-30 from three-point range. After shooting 64.3 percent from the field in the first half, MidAmerica Nazarene shot 80 percent from the field in the second half. The Runnin' Eagles finished 20-of-27 from the free-throw line, while MNU converted 18-of-25 free-throw attempts. The Pioneers finished with a 38-31 rebounding advantage.
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Junior Evan Lavery (Dyer, Ind.) scored a season-high 18 points to lead Central Methodist. Hamilton and senior Tyler Bredehoeft (Alma, Mo.) added 13 points each. Hamilton just missed a double-double as he also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Nate Stoutenborough (Cabool, Mo.) finished with nine points.
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CMU dropped to 6-13 overall and 1-8 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference with the loss. MidAmerica Nazarene improved to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the HAAC. The Runnin' Eagles will be back in action Thursday when they host Culver-Stockton College at 7:30 p.m. in Puckett Field House.