Muleskinner

Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: Sports

fast start-- Guard Zach Wright scores 10 points in the win over Westminster Tuesday. Wright, in his first year with UCM, earned Div.-II National Player of the Month for November.

driving through-- Forward Kevin Wolbrink dribbles past a Westminster defender during the team's 77-40 win Tuesday night. The Mules will take a 6-0 conference record into Saturday's conference opener against Pitt. State.

The Fighting Mules basketball team will face its toughest opponent of the season Saturday, when they take on the Gorillas of Pittsburg State. This will be the first MIAA conference game for both teams after a short non-conference schedule.

The Mules head into the game with a record of 6-0, after a 77-40 over the Westminster College Blue Jays Tuesday night.
Before the game, the Mules had moved to No. 5 in the nation after the latest NABA Div.-II poll. Westminster entered the game with a 3-0 record, after a 66-64 victory over Central College.
Although the Blue Jays opened up the game with an early 2-0 lead, the Mules never trailed again.

Senior forward Darryl Sommerset and senior center Alonzo Brooks got the Mules' offense started, scoring the first 13 points for the team.

Again, defense was the catalyst for the Mules, forcing the Blue Jays into 23 turnovers. Full-court pressure defense was the key to many of the turnovers.

"Our defense makes our offense out a lot because we were able to get easy baskets tonight," said Theo Jones, senior shooting guard.

The Blue Jays were held to only 32 percent shooting from the floor, and the Mules out-rebounded Westminster by 13. UCM extended its lead to 41-24 at halftime, after shooting an impressive 47 percent in the first half.

The Mules put the game out of reach with an 11-point run that gave them a 52-27 lead. Head coach Kim Anderson was able use all 13 players in the win, and every Mule scored against the Blue Jays en route to the win.

Brooks led all scoring with 12 points. Jones and senior point guard Zack Wright each added 10 points and Sommerset, along with junior center Michael Taylor, chipped in nine points each. Sommerset also lead the team in rebounding with 10. Overall, Anderson was pleased to get all of his players involved.

"It's good to get everybody involved, and it was good to know that we have more than just our five starters," Anderson said.
The win over Westminster moved Anderson to 8th place on the UCM coaching wins list with arecord of 85-40, passing legendary coach Forrest "Phog" Allen.

The Mules' only road game of the season so far came Nov. 29 against Lincoln University. The first half of the game was a see-saw battle that had the Mules leading 36-34 at halftime. With an offensive explosion in the second half by Jones and Wright, the Mules went on to outscore the Blue Tigers 52-26 in the second half.

Jones hit four three-point field goals on his way to a career-high 21 points, and Wright scored a collegiate career-high 28 points in the game to lead the Mules to an 88-60 victory.

Wright was 10-of-19 from the field and 8-of-11 at the foul line against the Blue Tigers, grabbing six rebounds and adding two steals and two assists. The defense also was able to slow down the Blue Tigers, allowing the Mules to win the rebounding battle by 14. Brooks grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.

The other big news that hit the team this week was the Monday announcement that Wright was named the Div.-II Bulletin National Player of the Month for November.

Wright, a native of Austin, Texas, averaged 20.7 points the last three games in November that was capped by the career-high 28 points against Lincoln. This concluded a month in which Wright averaged 18.4 points, 3.4 assists and a league-best 3.0 steals for the Mules.

He has 17 assists and 15 steals on the year while averaging five rebounds per game. Wright, who transferred to UCM from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, tallied a season-high nine rebounds in another regional win over Eastern New Mexico.

Wright was also named the Wilson/MIAA Player of the Week
"Zack is a very good athlete and an all-around player that has helped the team out a lot," Anderson said.

The Mules' next game will be their MIAA conference opener against Pittsburg State Saturday in the Multipurpose Building. Pitt State comes into the game with a 5-1 record after a 65-47 victory over Avila University Monday night. Jones said a win over the Gorillas will give them a good start to conference play.

"We know the Gorillas are going to try to come in here and win," Jones said. "We just have to play hard and play Mules' basketball to pull out the win."

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