[December 18, 2007]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas never quite found its rhythm, but eventually fought off a pesky Central Baptist squad to claim a 73-68 win Tuesday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

The Muleriders (6-3) could never quite shake the Mustangs (4-11) and actually trailed, 38-35, at the break. A lay-up by Darnell Manuel, seeing his first action of the season for SAU, and a pair of three-pointers from Mori Turpin pushed Southern Arkansas ahead to start the second half. After CBC tied it up twice more on Rod Briggs’ trey and Daron Hall’s lay-up, Cameron Butler’s jumper made it 47-45 and finally gave the Muleriders the lead for good at 15:43. Central Baptist wouldn’t go away, but Cory Green’s lay-up and free throw conversion put SAU up 65-57 with 5:39 left and his jumper with 47 ticks left made it another eight-point margin at 71-63. Still, the Mustangs stormed back, scoring five unanswered on Ryan Barnes’ jumper and Hall’s three, for a three-point deficit with 20 seconds remaining. From there, CBC only got off one more shot and Manuel’s two free throws provided the final margin.

Fortunately, Central Baptist cooled off in the second half, hitting just 11 of 30 (36.7 percent) as Southern Arkansas’ defense stepped up. The Mustangs rode a 15 of 30 first half performance in taking the halftime lead. Neither team led by more than six points in the opening stanza, that being a 14-8 Mulerider advantage at 14:08. A 7-0 run gave CBC a 15-14 edge, but SAU responded to spurt back on top and held a 27-23 margin with 4:45 left. An 11-2 spree from there gave Central Baptist a five-point spread as they went on to the three-point edge at the break.

Ironically, the teams played a surprisingly similar game offensively as they just flip-flopped halves. Southern Arkansas’ first half shooting (12-29, 41.4) nearly matched their visitor’s 11 of 30 second frame, while the Muleriders heated up in the second on 16 of 29 (55.2) to the Mustang’s 15 of 30 in the first half. SAU got three of 10 treys in the first and three of nine in the second to finish six of 19 (31.6), while CBC hit three of nine in each half for six of 18 (33.3). Free throws were almost identical also, Southern Arkansas converting 11 of 18 (61.1) and Central Baptist 10 of 18 (55.6).

Manuel, who gained his eligibility with the semester break, was a sparkplug the Muleriders needed, scoring a team-high 16 points in only 15 minutes of action. The 6-2 red-shirt freshman out of Altheimer was seven of 10 from the floor and two of three at the stripe, grabbed two rebounds, and had an assist. Turpin was the only other SAU player in double-figures, finishing with 11. Brandon Williams and David Noble each pulled down five rebounds, and Green dished out six assists.

Former Mulerider Trad Williams led all scorers with 21 points, playing all but eight seconds of the 40-minute contest. Williams played his freshman season at Southern Arkansas in 2004-05. Barnes added 14 points, and Hall had 12 and eight rebounds in 40 minutes of play.

SAU takes the court one more time before the holiday break, traveling to Durant, Okla., Friday for a 7 p.m. contest against Southeastern Oklahoma State.