MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Senior guard Jaron Davis scored a game-high 21 points and led three other Muleriders in double-figure scoring, while senior forward Alvin Braddock delivered with a double-double but Southwestern Oklahoma escaped a late SAU rally as they topped the Muleriders 77-74 on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
 
The Muleriders fall to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play as SWOSU continues to stay atop the Great American Conference standings at 6-1 and 4-0 in league play.
 
Davis connected on 4-of-7 from three-point range in the first half as he finished the first twenty minutes with 16 points, while redshirt-freshman guard CJ Elkins added nine points at the break. Elkins would finish with a career-high 18 points, while Braddock added 10 rebounds to his 16 points. Senior guard Deon Andrews scored 12 points; his seventh 10-plus point game this season.
 
Both teams traded blows in the paint as each squad collected 28 points inside, but Southwestern Oklahoma bench chipped in with 31 points compared to the Muleriders' six bench points. Davis, Braddock and junior Tony Aska all picked up a pair of steals apiece.
 
A pair of Bulldog free throws at the 11:14 mark of the second half gave SWOSU a 15-point advantage, 60-45, before the Muleriders began to chip away at the deficit. Five points from Braddock and a three-pointer by Andrews helped SAU pull to within nine with fewer than ten minutes remaining.
 
Davis would connect on one of two free throws with nine minutes left and on the next trip down the court; he would sink a three-pointer to pull the Muleriders to within five, 62-57. The Bulldogs would push their lead back to 11, but a Braddock jumper and a layup and two free throws from Elkins brought SAU back to within six points, 69-63 with 4:07 left in the second half.
 
With less than two minutes to play, junior guard De'sean Dockery scored inside to once again cut the SWOSU lead to six, before a pair of charity stripe freebies by Elkins put SAU within striking distance at 74-70 with 1:39 left.  
 
SAU would cut even further into the SWOSU lead, managing to get the deficit to within one possession with 15 seconds left, but three free throws helped Southwestern Oklahoma escape Magnolia as a three-quarter court heave from Davis to tie the game hit iron at the buzzer.
 
The Muleriders will return to the court on Saturday, December 19, as they close out the 2015 portion of their schedule at the Quincy University Classic in Quincy, Illinois, with a 5:15 p.m. tip-off against host Quincy, before concluding play on December 20 with a scheduled 3 p.m. tip-off with Truman State University.
 
Be sure to visit muleriderahtletics.com for future updates and pregame and postgame recaps of the 2015-16 Mulerider Basketball team and head coach Andy Sharpe.