Muleriders Lose Thriller to Delta State

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas overcame a 17-point deficit in the final six minutes, but came up short, losing a 74-73 thriller to Delta State Thursday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

Trailing 64-47 with 6:22 left, the Muleriders scrapped their way back into the contest with a 23-9 run and were down only three, 73-70, in the final seconds after two consecutive three-pointers from Brandon Williams. SAU had to foul, sending Earnesto Green to the line with four ticks remaining, who sank his game-leading 24th point of the night to essentially end it with a four-point lead. However, he missed the second and Southern Arkansas quickly got the ball back into Williams’ hands, who promptly bombed his third straight trey at the buzzer, but unfortunately for the Muleriders there was no foul on the shot, leaving SAU just short.

The Statesmen (8-8, 2-2 GSC) led the whole game and it was 2:16 old before anyone even got on the board as Anthony Fizer posted his only three points of the night from downtown for a 3-0 Statesmen lead. Cameron Butler followed that with a dunk, the closest Southern Arkansas (10-7, 1-3 GSC) would get the rest of the night until the final margin. Close for most of the first half, DSU eventually pulled out to a 25-14 edge on Green’s three at 7:20. But the Muleriders used a 13-4 spree to narrow it to 29-27 with 3:32 left before trailing 33-30 at the break.

Green was virtually unstoppable in the first frame, hitting 7 of 10 shots, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc, and a free throw, scoring 19 points. SAU slowed him down in the second half, allowing only two field goals and the deciding free throw.

Southern Arkansas again struggled offensively, shooting just 28 of 69 from the field for 40.6 percent. That included 12 of 30 treys (40.0), after having missed their first seven attempts of the game. Williams finally got one to go down at 6:05 in the first that pulled the Muleriders to within 25-19. Free throws were costly as they hit just 5 of 11 (45.5).

Delta State was 28 of 63 (44.4), 8 of 16 from downtown, and 10 of 17 (58.8) at the charity stripe.

Other than Green, Johnny Hodge had 12 points for the Statesmen, and Chad Akins added 11. Oliver Mansour pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, and Ray Selvage had five blocked shots in the game.

Williams paced SAU with 23 points, hitting 8 of 14 shots, including 7 of 13 treys. He also tallied seven boards, sharing team-high honors with David Noble. Channin Harden scored 17 points and had four assists in 23 minutes of action.

DSU held a 46-38 advantage on the boards, but was forced into 18 turnovers, while Southern Arkansas committed 13.

A disappointing loss for the Muleriders, they’ve now dropped two straight at home following last Saturday’s setback to Arkansas Tech. SAU looks to reverse that trend Saturday when they travel to Arkadelphia to take on Ouachita Baptist in a 5 p.m. tip-off.