WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Griffon Men's Basketball (13–7, 5–4 MIAA) splits the season series with Central Missouri (15–6, 6–3 MIAA), dropping the opening game of a three-game road trip on Wednesday night with a 97–83 setback at the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center.

The story of the first half was freshman guard Trey McKowen, who came off the bench and knocked down all four of his three-point attempts. His shooting surge helped push the Griffons to a six-point lead at the 8:44 mark, with MoWest later building its largest advantage of the night at eight points, 30–22 with 6:00 to go in the half. The Griffons carried a slim one-point edge into halftime, leading 41–40.

The Mules came out of the break with momentum, stretching the margin to 11 points at the 11:52 mark for a 67–56 advantage by converting offensive rebounds into second-chance points. William Kiburis trimmed the deficit to five with 2:21 remaining, but Central Missouri sealed the outcome down the stretch to claim a 97–83 win.

William Kiburis led the way with a team-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, connecting on three triples and a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the free-throw line, while adding seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals in 34 minutes.

Noah King followed with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, contributing four rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes of action.

Trey McKowen added 15 points off an efficient 5-of-8 performance from the field, knocking down four three-pointers and dishing out three assists.

Marko Pavlovic rounded out the scoring in double figures with 14 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting night, while grabbing two rebounds and handing out three assists.

The Griffons posted a 56.1 percent shooting mark from the field (32-of-57), drained 52.6 percent of their three-point tries (10-of-19), and scored on 9-of-13 free throws for 69.2 percent.

The Central Missouri Mules closed the night shooting 54.7 percent from the floor (35-of-64), finished 6-for-23 from three-point range for 26.1 percent, and converted 21-of-25 free throws at an 84.0 percent rate.

MoWest continues its road trip on Saturday, Jan. 24, traveling to Topeka for a matchup against No. 1 Washburn (19-0, 9-0 MIAA). Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m. at Lee Arena.

The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to stream on the MIAA Network.