ADA, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team opened up Great American Conference play in an emphatic way while on the road Thursday night as the Muleriders cruised past East Central by a score of 85-70 inside the Kerr Activities Center.
A total of four Muleriders would score in double-figures as the team enjoyed their best offensive game of the young season. Senior guard
Jaron Davis led the way for the Muleriders (2-1, 1-0 GAC) in scoring as he scored a game-high 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting including 4-of-9 from long range while adding eight from the charity stripe as he was a perfect 8-of-8 from the line. It is the third-straight game that Davis has scored 20 or more points as well.
Behind Davis in scoring was
Deon Andrews as the senior guard continued his solid start to the season with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Freshman guard
CJ Elkins registered his first career game in double figures as he scored 12 points while senior forward
Alvin Braddock rounded out double-figure scoring with 11 points.
Heading into the half, the Muleriders held a seven-point lead, 36-29, thanks in part to an overall 42% first-half shooting effort, including a 40% success rate from long range. The Tigers (1-2, 0-1 GAC) would shot 41% overall from the floor in the first half, but were just 18% from deep, helping create separation for SAU.
The Muleriders would quickly turn that seven-point halftime lead into debilitating 20-point lead, 52-32, at the 16:04 mark of the second half thanks to a monster 16-3 run to start the second period of play. Helping ignite that run were eight points from Andrews as he was good from long range twice and added a mid-range jumper as well.
From there, the Muleriders would maintain a sizable double-digit lead until cruising to a 15-point win, 85-70.
The Muleriders will remain on the road and will travel to Durant, Okla. on Saturday to take on Southeastern Oklahoma in Great American Conference action. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 3 p.m. inside the Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
