PITTSBURG — Trey Starks and Dakota Jones combined to score 24 second-half points, and 35 combined points overall, to lead the Pittsburg State University men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over the University of Central Missouri Thursday (Jan. 7) at John Lance Arena.

The Gorillas (8-7, 3-6 MIAA) built a 21-point first-half cushion and weathered a late run by the Mules (9-4, 3-4 MIAA) in the final minutes of the opening stanza to maintain a 12-point lead at the break. UCM never got any closer than 10 points of Pitt State in the final 20 minutes of play.

Chris Owens scored all of his career-high 13 points in the first half to spark the Gorillas off the bench. The Gorillas shot 64 percent from the floor in the opening period, making 16 of 25 shots. Pitt State finished the game 28 of 53 from the field (.528).

Starks scored 13 of his game-high 19 points after halftime. Jones chipped in with 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Lamine Dieng also scored in double figures with 13 points.

D'Marnier Cunningham had a team-leading 19 points for UCM, while Spencer Reaves added 13. Kyle Wolfe, who made three 3-pointers in a row in the final 1:09 of the first half to trim a 21-point deficit to a 12-point margin, added 12 points on the night. He made four treys in the opening period, but missed all five of his second-half attempts.

Pitt State, which snapped a six-game losing streak with the victory, will return to action Saturday (Jan. 9) with a 3:30 p.m. (CST) match-up against Southwest Baptist University at John Lance Arena. The Bearcats dropped an 80-63 decision against Missouri Southern State University Thursday at Joplin, Mo.