KANSAS CITY -- Midwestern State displayed just how good it can be in the opening half Tuesday night in the MIAA Thanksgiving Challenge at historic Municipal Arena.
 
The Mustangs shot 50 percent from the floor hitting eight 3-pointers scoring a season, first half high of 50 points to take a 19-point lead over Central Oklahoma.
 
But in the second-half, the resurgent Mules exposed a basic fact about Midwestern State. The Mustangs still have a bit more improvement to go and belief to build.
 
Central Missouri limited MSU to six points in the opening 13 minutes of the second half to send the Mustangs to 0-6 with a 72-67 loss.
 
"The hardest part at halftime was I could see (some players) thought it was over," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "I was trying to show them how we were able to build that lead and we got away from that in the second half."
 
The Mules kicked hard out of the break scoring the first eight points. Gaven Pinkley penetrated the lane for a layup, then UCM hit a pair of drive-and-kick triples by Michael Winger and Kendale Hampton to pair Midwestern's advantage to 50-39.
 
"They were able to drive the lane to hit a few quick hitters and a few 3s," Leslie said. "We lost our composure on the offensive end and that was surprising. Our decision making wasn't great. We took a lot of ill-advised shots with more than 18 seconds on the shot clock. We just didn't give ourselves a chance."
 
The Mustangs did appear to right the ship hitting consecutive layups by D'monta Harris then Darius Thompson converted a steal for two allowing MSU to re-establish a 54-40 lead with 16:16 to play.
 
Then Central Missouri mounted a 19-2 run taking its first lead since the first few minutes of the game establishing a 59-56 edge following a pair of Pinkley free throws with 7:41 remaining.
 
The differences were drastic for Midwestern in the second half as the Mustangs shot 6-of-25 (24 percent) after halftime including dry spell of 0-for-12 from beyond the arc.
 
Still, the Mustangs wrested the lead away from UCM three times in the final minutes before the Mules closed the final two minutes on a 7-2 run.
 
The second-half effort spoiled an incredible effort over the first 20 minutes by the Mustangs.
 
Thompson was efficient in hitting 5-of-8 shots with two 3-pointers for 13 points in the opening half. He would finish with is second double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Junior guard Reggie Rivera tallied nine of his season-high 11 points in the opening half actively making his way to the charity stripe where he was 7-for-8.
 
Sophomore forward Jalin Brown narrowly missed a double-double going for nine points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Harris had 11 points and six rebounds.
 
Pinkley paced Central Missouri with 18 points, while Hampton added 13 points and eight rebounds. Matt Wilkinson contributed 12 points and two 3-pointers in 23 minutes off of the bench.
 
Midwestern State dropped to 0-6 for the first time since the start of the 1988-89 season, while Central Missouri improved to 2-4.
 
The Mustangs open Lone Star Conference play on Thursday, Dec. 5 against UT Permian Basin. Tipoff at the Falcon Dome in Odessa is set for 7:30.