MONTICELLO, Ark. – "Rival Monday" in the Great American Conference lived up to its billing in the game between Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello as 40 minutes of regulation were not enough to decide a winner; but it was ultimately SAU who would come away victorious, beating UAM 87-82 on Monday night inside the Steelman Fieldhouse.
 
In that overtime period, play remained razor-thin close between the Muleriders (9-6, 6-3 GAC) and the Boll Weevils (5-10, 3-6 GAC) as the score was tied up on four separate occasions. Additionally, neither team led by more than two points throughout a majority of overtime. In fact, SAU's eventual five-point margin of victory was not achieved until Deon Andrews buried a three-pointer with 13 seconds left in overtime.
 
With play throughout regulation and into overtime being so close, specialty stats figured to play a major role in deciding the winner and that certainly rang true for the Muleriders as they dominated Boll Weevils in Rebounds (43-23) Points in the Paint (52-22), Bench Points (33-10), and Second-Chance Points (20-7). Out of those three specialty stats, however, the one that may have proved to be the difference, especially in overtime were Second-Chance Points as the Muleriders had five such points in the overtime period while UAM managed zero.
 
The first two of the Second-Chance Points came when CJ Elkins rebounded his own miss and laid one in to tie the game at 82-all with 2:14 left in overtime. The final three of SAU's Second-Chance Points essentially sealed the game for the Muleriders as Denarious Lockhart's offensive rebound with 41 seconds left allowed the Muleriders, who were leading by two points at the time, 84-82, to run off more time with a fresh 30-second shot clock. The Muleriders would use up most of that added time on offense before Andrews hit the big shot.
 
That three-pointer gave Andrews' 15 points in the game and was his first make from long range in the game as he was 0-for-4 prior to the shot. Four other Muleriders would join Andrews in double figures with Lockhart scoring a team and season-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Two points back of Lockhart was Alvin Braddock as he scored 16 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting. Braddock would also haul in 11 rebounds to post his third double-double of the season.
 
De'Sean Dockery would match Andrews' scoring output with nine of those points coming in the second half. Jaron Davis rounded out double-figure scoring with 13 points.
 
The win for the Muleriders is their fifth in a row and sets up a showdown at home with Harding on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center. Entering play in that game, Harding is 7-2 in the GAC which is currently tied for first-place while the Muleriders are one-game back at 6-3 in the GAC. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.