WEATHERFORD, Okla. ­­- The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team now sits alone atop the Great American Conference standings after they picked up their second road conference win in as many tries on Saturday afternoon by beating Southwestern Oklahoma by a score of 81-73.
 
The eight-point win for the Muleriders (9-4, 6-2 GAC) is their fifth-straight and third-consecutive within GAC play.
 
In the first half of Saturday afternoon's game SAU seemingly could not miss a shot as they ended the opening period with a 59% success rate from the floor as they went 17-of-29. Even more impressive than the highly-efficient overall shooting percentage were the Muleriders' accomplishments from three-point range as 10 of their made field goals in the first half came from beyond the arc. Guards Jaron Davis and Chauncy Williams were the biggest reasons for the Muleriders success from deep as the two combined to make nine trifectas with Williams burying five and Davis four.
 
With that tremendous offensive first half, the Muleriders would take a 12-point lead into the break, 44-32.
 
Coming out of the break, however, the Muleriders' lead would quickly disappear over the first four and half minutes of the second half as the Bulldogs (8-6, 2-5 GAC) ripped off a 16-3 run to take a one-point 48-47. A few seconds later, the Bulldogs would make it an 18-3 run as Emeche Wells made good on a layup.
 
During that monster run by the Bulldogs, SWOSU very nearly did not miss a single shot attempt from anywhere on the court as they went 7-of-7 overall from the floor, with four of those makes coming from long range. Their lone blemish would come from the charity stripe as the Bulldogs missed their one attempt. Conversely, the Muleriders were just 1-of-7 from the field with the one make coming on a three-pointer by Williams.
 
Now with the Bulldogs leading by three points, 50-47, the Muleriders would begin to regain control of the game as they worked the ball inside to their big men. Alvin Braddock was the first to find the bottom of the net at the 13:59 mark of the second half as he broke the Bulldog run and pulled SAU to within a point, 50-49.
 
Over the next four minutes of the game play between the Muleriders and Bulldogs was razor-thin as neither team held a lead larger than a single point and remarkably, the lead changed hands seven times. The final of those lead changes went in favor of the Muleriders as Aaron Francis made good on a pair of free throws to give SAU a 57-56 lead.
 
On the Bulldogs' ensuing possession, Tyrell Taylor stripped SWOSU's Martell Collins and then Taylor worked the ball up the court to a streaking Deon Andrews for the fast-break layup. Another empty Bulldog possession followed and the Muleriders were once again able to capitalize on their end as Davis found Alre'k Brown inside for a layup and a five-point Mulerider lead with 10:35 remaining.
 
From there, the Muleriders would continue to hold a small lead over the Bulldogs before SAU eventually was able to grow their lead out to as large as 11 points down the stretch thanks to six-consecutive free throw makes by the Muleriders, all with under a minute to go. SWOSU's Kenyan Boarders would knock down a three-pointer with six seconds left to bring the game to its final, 81-73 in favor of SAU.
 
Statistically, the Muleriders would have three players score in double figures with Jaron Davis leading the way with 24 points. Behind Davis was Chauncy Williams with 18 points, all of which came from beyond the arc. Next was Alre'k Brown with 14 points; 12 which came in the second half. In fact, the second half was an overall dominant performance by Brown as the senior forward picked up 11 of his eventual 15 rebounds in the half, with six of those boards coming on the offensive glass. The 14-point, 15-rebound double-double is Brown's fourth this season.
 
As a team, the Muleriders had more points in the paint than SWOSU (26-18), more points off of turnovers (17-11), more fast break points (10-9), and more rebounds (39-33).
 
The Muleriders will now return home and prepare for a non-conference game against Champion Baptist on Thursday, January 15. Tip-off for the game is slated for 7 p.m. inside the W.T. Watson Center.