Rockhurst rallied from a 15-point deficit to pull within three points before falling at Central Missouri, 77-71, Wednesday night in Warrensburg, Mo.

The Hawks fell behind 59-44 with 12 minutes left to play. Rockhurst went on a 22-10 run over the next eight minutes to cut UCM's lead to 69-66 on a layup by Alex Hagan with 4:04 remaining. Central Missouri scored its last five points at the free-throw line.

Rockhurst shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half while outscoring the Mules 38-35 over the final 20 minutes.

"I thought we played with great heart," said Rockhurst coach Drew Diener. "Turnovers hurt us in the first half especially. We hung in there and continued to scrap and grind to stay in that game. Ultimately, we fouled too much and gave them too many free points at the line."

Malachi Nix led the Hawks with 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals. Freshman Austin LeVan scored 11 points off the bench. Adam Fatkin posted 10 points and four rebounds. Dominique Washington added nine points.

Rockhurst shot 51.0 percent from the field (26 of 51) and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line (13 of 19). Central Missouri connected on 22-of-54 field goals (40.7 percent) and 26-of-30 free throws (86.7 percent). Spencer Reaves paced the Mules with 16 points.

The Hawks, 1-1, will play at Washburn on Saturday at 3 p.m.