MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team shot 51% in the first half and carried a nine-point lead into the locker room against Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night at the W.T. Watson Center, but a significant second-half shooting lull by SAU ultimately led to A&M-Commerce knocking off the Muleriders by a score of 71-64.
 
The Muleriders (4-4), who were looking to avenge a loss to the Lions (8-2) just two weeks ago, played with the lead for much of the first half as they were continually converting on quality looks inside the paint. The solid play inside helped the Muleriders build a lead as large as nine points with 7:35 left in the opening half.
 
At the 5:23 mark of the first half, however, A&M-Commerce capped a 9-0 run on a fast break dunk by Darrell Williams to knot the game at 34-all. Despite the furious run by A&M-Commerce, the Muleriders would not relinquish the lead at that point as they would convert two Lions' turnovers into six points on three-point buckets from Deon Andrews and Chauncy Williams.
 
By the end of the half, SAU would once again stretch their lead out to nine points, making it a 47-38 score at the break.
 
Coming out of the break, however, was when the offensive struggles for SAU would begin. Over the first four and a half minutes of the second half, SAU would be held scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting. Meanwhile, the Lions would shoot 4-of-5 from the floor and go on a 9-0 run to once again knot the game, this time at 47-all.
 
Once again though, SAU would not lose the lead at that particular time as the Lions were only able to tie the score. However, with 10:31 left in the game, the Lions would break through and grab their first lead in the game since early in the first half.
 
Over the next 7:31 of the game, the lead would change hands six times with neither team holding a lead larger than three points. The final of the lead changes would come with 3:00 left in the game as A&M-Commerce's Anthony Adams answered the Muleriders' go-ahead three-pointer by Jaron Davis  with an inside jumper, giving the Lions a 65-64 lead.
 
The Lions would then hold the Muleriders off the scoreboard the remainder of the way out en route to picking up a 71-64 win.
 
Statistically, three Muleriders scored in double figures with Alre'k Brown leading the way with 17 points on7-of-13 shooting. Additionally, Brown would pull down eight rebounds and block five shots as he was a force inside on both sides of the ball. Davis and Alvin Braddock would follow Brown in scoring with 10 points apiece. In terms of rebounding, SAU was led by Kevin Jordan as he hauled in 10 boards. Jordan also narrowly missed out on a double-double as he scored eight points in the game.
 
The Muleriders will now have a quick turnaround as they are set to play host to Dallas Christian College on Tuesday night at the W.T. Watson Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.