RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. ­– The Southern Arkansas and Arkansas Tech men's basketball teams battled each other to the bitter end on Saturday evening at the Tucker Coliseum as the Great American Conference clash saw a total of nine tie scores and 16 lead changes. However, ultimately it was Arkansas Tech who would come away victorious in the back-and-forth affair as they edged out SAU by a score of 77-75.
 
Early in the game it was the Muleriders (4-3, 3-2 GAC) who took charge as they jumped out to a quick 8-2 advantage over the Wonder Boys (5-5, 1-2 GAC). After Tech was able to knot the game up at 10-all with 12:35 left in the first half, the Muleriders ripped off an 11-0 run over the next 1:17 to sprint out to their largest lead of the game, 11 points, 21-10, with 10:58 left in the half.
 
During that spurt, SAU's Jaron Davis was the scoring catalyst as he would bury three trifectas. Over the next 3:28 of the game, however, the Muleriders' shooting would grow cold as Tech was able to get to within a point, 23-22, with 7:40 left in the first half.
 
For the remainder of the half, the lead would change hands five times and the score would be tied twice. In the waning moments of the half, Tech would break a 38-all tie on a free throw, and then a made layup with just over a second left gave the Wonder Boys a three-point lead, 41-38, heading into the locker room.
 
Coming out of the break, the Wonder Boys would maintain their lead over the Muleriders until the 15:33 mark when Alre'k Brown made good on a layup attempt, giving SAU a 48-46 lead. By the 12:07 mark, SAU was able to extend their lead out to as many as eight points before Tech began to work their way back into the game.
 
With 9:15 remaining in the game, Tech would grab the lead once more, 64-63, as Mike Balogun knocked down a three-pointer. From that point on in the game neither team would lead by more than three points as the lead changes and tie scores began to rack up. Over the final 9:15 alone, the game would see four tie scores and the lead change hands eight times.
 
With 3:33 left, Brown knocked down a pair of free throws to give SAU a one-point lead, 73-72. On Tech's ensuing possession, however, D.J. Jethroe would hit a layup to swing the Wonder Boys back on top, 74-73.
 
The next three minutes of the game would go by without another made field goal or free throw being made as the score remained 74-73 in favor of Tech. Now with just 21 seconds to go, SAU's Tyrell Taylor would drive into the lane, pull up and hit a jumper to give the Muleriders the lead, 75-74.
 
On Tech's ensuing possession, Jay Murphy, with 12 seconds remaining, would draw contact inside, sending him to the line for a pair of free throws. Murphy would be true on both attempts, forcing another lead change.
 
Unfortunately, that would be the final lead change of the game as the Wonder Boys were able to force the Muleriders to turn the ball over on their final possession with just five seconds remaining in the game. The Wonder Boys would add a single free throw following the turnover to bring the game to its eventual two-point margin, 77-75.
 
Three Muleriders would score in double figures with Brown and Davis going for 24 and 23, respectively. Brown, who was 9-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free throw line, would also add 11 rebounds to his stat line to give him his first double-double of the season. Davis would do a bulk of his damage in the first half as he scored 13 points on the strength of 4-of-5 shooting from long range. Davis would end the game with six makes from deep.
 
The Muleriders will now prepare for back-to-back home non-conference games starting on Monday night against Texas A&M-Commerce. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the W.T. Watson Center.