MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Big shot after big shot found the bottom of the cylinder for Southern Arkansas in the second half on Tuesday night inside a rambunctious W.T. Watson Center and the Muleriders rallied in the final nine minutes of action to win their sixth-straight Great American Conference contest with a 69-68 win over Arkansas-Monticello in a "Rivalry Tuesday" clash that featured nine lead changes and three tied scores in the final twenty minutes of play alone.
 
With the score tied at 46 at the 12:35 mark of the second half, Arkansas-Monticello methodically managed a five-point lead as part of a 9-4 run that spanned six-plus minutes and led to a 55-50 Weevils advantage with 6:32 left in the game.
 
A 7-0 SAU run ensued as Keeton Tennison rattled in the last of his three free throw attempts moments before Aaron Lucas knocked down a triple try that ignited the SAU contingent, while bringing Southern Arkansas to within a point of the lead, 55-54. As time slipped under the five-minute mark, Lucas, on a drive to the basket, found Wesley Nosakhare who finished softly at the rim, before converting an and-1 opportunity to give the Muleriders a 57-55 lead.
 
After UAM's Cobe Goosby and Derylton Hill each managed to convert one of two attempts from the line, Draylan Perkins muscled his way to the hole and successfully netted SAU's second and-1 opportunity in a fifty-second span. Perkins' theatrics gave Southern Arkansas a short-lived 60-58 lead as Hill answered on the other end with an inside bucket, before converting his own and-1 opportunity two possessions later to put the Weevils back in front 63-60 with 2:28 to play in the contest.
 
If the Watson faithful hadn't gotten their money's worth through the evening's first 38 minutes of basketball, the final two minutes paid dividends and did not disappoint. Perkins again found a lane to the basket and brought the Muleriders to within one at 63-62 with 1:59 to play. Aforementioned big shot after big shot fell for Southern Arkansas in the final twenty minutes of play, but arguably the biggest came after Perkins' bucket gave the Muleriders the chance to take the lead on the next trip down the court.
 
That trip came sooner than expected as DeVante Brooks came away with a steal to set up a successful trifecta attempt, from the left wing, with three to shoot on the shot clock from the trigger of CJ Elkins which sent the W.T. Watson into a frenzy. That shot put Southern Arkansas out front 65-63 and with less than a minute remaining Lucas came away with a loose ball and drove to the basket, drawing contact moments before successfully knocking down a pair of shots from the charity stripe.
 
Goosby managed to drive uncontested to the rim to pull UAM back within a bucket of the lead, but Elkins answered with two makes from the stripe to push the lead back to four, 69-65 with 18 seconds left. With just a dozen seconds to play, Hill made good on both ends of a hoop-and-the-harm to cut the Mulerider lead to just one, 69-68. After a travel call on Southern Arkansas with eight seconds left, UAM's Keelin Jackson pulled up from the right wing on a good three-point look, but the shot rimmed out as the Muleriders edged the Weevils in a pivotal league contest.
 
As close as it was down the stretch, it might not have gotten to that point if it wasn't for a late surge by Southern Arkansas in the first half. The Muleriders trailed by a dozen points with 8:35 to play in the first half, before Elkins made a pair of free throw attempts cut the deficit to eight. SAU would only manage to come within seven points of the Weevil lead over the next five and a half minutes, before engineering a 7-3 run, highlighted by a tough conversion on a layup by KJ Collins, two free throws from Lucas and the second of Tennison's two first half threes to close out the half and pull within a possession of the lead at the intermission.
 
Four Muleriders scored in double figures led by Elkins who delivered 15 points, while Perkins and Nosakhare each added 13 points and Tennison followed with 11. The latter had three of SAU's nine steals on the night and Collins contributed three of the Muleriders' five blocks. Four players delivered a pair of assists each, while Nosakahre (7), Perkins (6), Collins (5) led Southern Arkansas in rebounding.
 
SAU absorbed 23 points and ten rebounds from UAM big man Derylton Hill, but it was the Mulerider bigs that battled blow-for-blow inside as Charlie Thomas and Nosakhare along with Brooks and Collins helped Southern Arkansas muscle 36 points inside. The Muleriders attempted a season-low 15 three-pointers and converted a season-low four three-point attempts.
 
The Muleriders shot 49% (24-of-49) from the floor in the win, while UAM shot 41.8% (23-of-55).
 
The win moves SAU into fifth-place in the updated league standings and puts a brighter spotlight on the Muleriders' two remaining contests this week, both of which are at home beginning on Thursday night, January 25, against Oklahoma Baptist at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a Saturday afternoon tip-off on January 27 at 3 p.m. against league-leading Southern Nazarene. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.