[January 26, 2008]

Contact: Houston Taylor

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas couldn’t overcome a late second half run by Ouachita Baptist as the Muleriders fell, 79-63, Saturday at Bill Vining Arena.

After the Tigers had moved out to an 11-point advantage in the second frame, SAU fought back to pull within 49-43 on Cameron Butler’s lay-up at 11:25. But a 22-6 run by OBU over the next seven minutes ended any hope Southern Arkansas had of picking up a Gulf South Conference road victory. Ouachita Baptist hit 7 of 10 from the floor, including two three-pointers, and 6 of 8 free throws during that span, while the Muleriders were 2 of 7 and 1 for 4, suffered three turnovers, and were hit with a seemingly unwarranted technical foul on Coach Eric Bozeman. The tech came at 8:21 with SAU down 59-48, but instead of it rallying the team, the Tigers used the instance to finish out their run with a 12-1 spree from there. Southern Arkansas never recovered, getting only as close as the final margin’s spread the rest of the way.

The Muleriders jumped out to 2-0 and 4-2 leads on Chris Montgomery’s lay-up and tip-in, but two free throws from Memo Rodriguez and a trey from Daniel Munday pushed OBU ahead to stay. SAU kept it close though, and were within one at 15-14 on Cory Green’s three with 12 minutes remaining and at 24-22 with 6:19 left on another Green three. Ouachita Baptist held though, taking an eight-point advantage before settling for a 34-28 lead at halftime.

Southern Arkansas again struggled offensively, hitting just 21 of 56 (37.5 percent) shots, while the Tigers had the hot hand in knocking down 27 of 47 (57.4). The Muleriders did convert 9 of 17 (52.9) from beyond the arc, and were 12 of 18 (66.7) at the charity stripe. OBU canned 7 of 12 (58.3) from downtown, and got 18 of 22 (81.8) free throws to fall.

Ouachita Baptist (10-6, 3-2 GSC) held a 37-23 rebound advantage, while SAU forced 19 Tiger turnovers and converted them into 21 points, while committing 14 themselves.

Daniel Maddox posted a game-high 21 points in leading OBU. Rodriguez added 18, and Antonio Benjamin and Rowan Ledbetter chipped in 13 each. Justin Delamar had a game-high seven rebounds.

Mori Turpin paced Southern Arkansas with 18 points, while Green finished with 12, all on treys. Turpin and Montgomery both had four rebounds.

The Muleriders have now dropped three straight to fall to 10-8 overall and 1-4 in GSC play. SAU hosts co-West Division leading Harding Thursday in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.