SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS (0-0, 0-0 GAC)
THURSDAY, NOV. 20 | 7:30 P.M. SOUTHERN NAZARENE CRIMSON STORM (1-0, 0-0 GAC) LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO SAU GAME NOTES | SNU GAME NOTES	SATURDAY, NOV. 22 | 4 P.M. SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA SAVAGE STORM (1-2, 0-0 GAC) LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO SAU GAME NOTES | SE GAME NOTES

 

---

SETTING THE STAGE    
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team is set to open up their 2014-15 regular season with a pair of  home Great American Conference games. First up for the Muleriders is the fifth meeting all-time against Southern Nazarane on Thursday night, followed then by a Saturday afternoon matchup with Southeastern Oklahoma.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE (11-20-14)   
ABOUT SNU:    
The Southern Nazarene men's basketball team enters play with a 1-0 overall record and an 0-0 mark in the Great American Conference. The Crimson Storm have been in action twice thus far as they played an exhibition game against Oklahoma City University and opened up their season with an 83-65 win against Southwestern Christian.
This will be the Crimson Storms' first year being eligible for the GAC Tournament in March as they are now full members of the league. Despite being in their first year of full membership, SNU has a GAC record over .500 as they are 21-19 in two seasons. If eligible, SNU would have qualified for the GAC Tournament each year.

With just one offical game played, SNU is averaging 83.0 points per game while allowing 65.0 points per game. Leading the team in scoring thus far are LB Willis and Garrett Butler as each scored 18 points in the season-opener.

COACH:
The Crimson Storm are coached by Adam Bohac, who is in his seventh season at SNU. In his time at SNU, Bohac has amassed a 130-65 overall record and has four 20-plus win seasons.

SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA (11-22-14)
ABOUT SE:
The Southeastern Oklahoma men's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 1-2 overall record and a 0-0 mark in the GAC. Prior to playing SAU on Saturday, the Savage Storm will have played Henderson State in a GAC game on Thursday night. 

Already having played three regular season games coming into this weekend, SE played three exhibition games before they officially opened their 2014-15 season.
With three games under their belt, SE is averaging 80.3 points per game while allowing 77.7 points on the other end of the court. Thus far, four Savage Storm players are averaging double figures in scoring with Danny Powell leading the way with 18.3 points per game. The Savage Storm's leading rebounder is Darius Harris as he averages 12.3 boards per game. Additionally, Harris is leads the team in assists with 16 and is averaging a double-double with 11.7 points per game.

COACH:
The Savage Storm are led by Kelly Green, who is in his fourth season at SE and is in his fifth season overall as a head coach. In his time at SE, Green has amassed a 37-49 record. Overall, Green has a 45-67 career coaching record.

HOME-OPENERS UNDER SHARPE    
Now in his third season, SAU head men's basketball coach Andy Sharpe looks to keep his record in home-openers unblemished as he is currently 2-0 in home-openers at SAU. In a rariety, the game against Southern Nazarene will also be the Muleriders conference home-opener. In those games, Sharpe is 1-1.

YEAR THREE OF THE PROCESS    
Head coach Andy Sharpe is now in his third year at SAU and he looks to have his program make another step in the right direction in 2014-15. Last year saw many improvements within the program as the win total increased from the year prior, but also last year saw the Muleriders win their first conference tournament game since the 1999-2000 season. 

This year, Shapre returns six players from a year ago along with adding 10 talented newcomers to the mix.

SHARP SHOOTERS RETURNING    
Last season, SAU ranked eighth in the GAC in three-point percentage as they shot .338 from beyond the arc, but the Muleriders do  return their top-two three-point threats in Nemo Sanchez and Chauncy Williams. A year ago, the two combined to hit 118 of SAU's 189 made three-pointers.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?    
Last year, Alre'k Brown burst onto the scene for the SAU basketball team as he established himself as one of the best big men in the GAC. Brown would rank in the top-five in the league in Blocked Shots (1st | 2.4 bpg), Field Goal % (3rd | .626), and total Rebounding (4th | 7.4 rpg) while also ranking 16th in the GAC in scoring with 12.4 ppg.

PADDING STATS BY PADDING OTHERS' STATS    
Tyrell Taylor returns for his senior season after transferring to SAU last year. In his first year at SAU, Taylor was the Muleriders' starting point guard and he would lead the team and rank fifth in the GAC in assists per game with 4.0. Taylor was only one of six players in the GAC to dish out over 100 assists.

FILL IT UP!    
Last season, the Muleriders had the second-highest scoring offense in the GAC as they averaged 75.2 points per game (1.6 ppg shy of the top spot in the GAC). 10 times, the Muleriders would score 80 or more points in a game with three of those games yeilding 100 points or more. In the games in which SAU scored 80 or more points, they were 7-3.

WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!    
In the two years that Andy Sharpe has been at the helm of the men's basketball program they have placed an empahsis on winning at home. As a result, the Muleriders are currently 18-11 at home under Coach Sharpe.