The Central Methodist University men's basketball team led for more than 39 minutes, but came up short when Graceland University made a basket at the buzzer to beat the Runnin' Eagles 69-67 Saturday afternoon.
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Graceland took its first lead of the game at 67-64 with 26 seconds left. CMU passed the ball around before sophomore Eric Franklin (Columbia, Mo.) made a three-pointer to tie the game with 11 seconds left on the clock. Graceland missed the game-winning three-point attempt, but got an offensive rebound and scored on a put-back as the buzzer went off to steal the two-point win.
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Central Methodist led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but Graceland rallied to within two points with less than two minutes remaining in the period. CMU scored five straight points to take a 33-26 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Runnin' Eagles extended their lead to as many as 14 points at 48-34 after a pair of free throws by senior Jake Clark (St. Charles, Mo.). Graceland went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to get to within 48-43. The Yellowjackets finally tied the game at 62-62 with 2:43 remaining, and after another tie at 64-64, Graceland took its first lead of the game on a three-pointer with 26 seconds left.
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CMU shot 49.1 percent from the field in the game, including 11-of-22 from three-point range. The Runnin' Eagles attempted just five free throws in the game, making four. Graceland finished with 45.8 percent shooting from the field, including 6-of-20 from three-point range. The Yellowjackets converted 9-of-13 free-throw attempts. Graceland also finished with a 33-30 rebounding advantage and had 13 offensive rebounds in the game.
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Senior Curtis Smith (LaBelle, Mo.) finished with 21 points in the game, following his career-high 28 points Thursday. Clark just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while also recording four assists. Franklin added 11 points and a team-high five assists. Senior Tyler Bredehoeft (Alma, Mo.) finished with 10 points and four assists for the Runnin' Eagles.
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CMU dropped to 8-16 on the season and 3-11 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference, while Graceland improved to 11-13 overall and 6-8 in the conference. The Runnin' Eagles will be back in action Feb. 10 when they travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on Evangel University in a 7:30 p.m. contest.