[January 17, 2008]

Contact: Houston Taylor

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas’ hot shooting sizzled the nets Thursday giving the Muleriders (10-5, 1-1 GSC) a 76-68 win over Henderson State (2-12, 0-2 GSC). SAU connected on 29 of 43 shots for a season-high 67.4 percent, including a season-best 71.4 percent on three-pointers, canning 10 of 14 from downtown.

The victory ended a three-game skid against the Reddies, although Southern Arkansas has now won two of the last three in Arkadelphia.

The Muleriders literally couldn’t miss in the first half, hitting 16 of 20 from the floor, including 6 of 8 from beyond the arc to roll to a 43-29 halftime advantage. Never trailing, they jumped out to a 5-0 lead and held a 28-22 edge on Cory Green’s three with 4:49 remaining. After HSU narrowed it to 28-24 over the next 24 ticks, SAU responded by closing out the half with a 15-5 run.

Things cooled off a bit in the second frame, yet Southern Arkansas still knocked down 13 of 23 from the field for a very respectable 56.5 percent. That included nailing 4 of 6 (66.7) treys. Henderson State, though, slowly climbed back in it by using a hot hand themselves, finding the bottom of the net on 17 of 29 (58.6) for the half, with 5 of 7 (71.4) three-pointers. With the Muleriders taking a 55-35 margin on Cameron Butler’s dunk at 15:14, the Reddies whittled away to pull within 69-61 at 5:22. But lay-ups from Channin Harden and Green, and one of two free throws from Harden pushed it back to a 13-point SAU spread at 2:42 and they held from there. Green’s two free throws made it an 11-point lead in the closing seconds, but HSU’s Jerome Wilson bombed a three for the final margin.

Henderson State wound up shooting 54.7 percent for the game on a 29 of 53 performance, including 5 of 12 (41.7) on three’s. With all the offensive fireworks, neither team spent much time at the free throw line, Southern Arkansas hitting 8 of 11 (72.7) and the Reddies just 5 of 9 (55.6). HSU didn’t attempt a free throw in the second half.

Green led the Muleriders’ firepower with a game-high and career second-best 24 points on 8 of 11 shooting. The senior’s total was bested only by a 25 point performance against Central Arkansas in his sophomore year. Green was perfect on all three of his trey attempts and canned 5 of 6 free throws. He also added a rebound, and two assists and steals in 31 minutes of action. Brandon Williams chipped in 16 points, connecting on all six field goal attempts, including four from downtown. Butler pulled down a game-high eight boards, blocked two shots, and swiped three steals.

All-conference guard Antoine Vinson paced Henderson State with 22 points, Wilson added 20, and Lucas Whisenhunt finished with 18. James Williams had seven rebounds.

SAU, rebounding better its past couple of games, won that battle, 23-21. However, they uncharacteristically committed 21 turnovers, while forcing 16. Southern Arkansas came into the game ranked eighth in the nation at just 12.6 turnovers per contest.

The Muleriders barely have time to breathe before hosting Arkansas Tech Saturday in a scheduled 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Part of the program’s season-long theme of “Mulerider Madness”, Saturday will be alumni appreciation night, honoring all past alumni of the university.