ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Both the Southern Arkansas and Ouachita's men's basketball teams put their current five-game winning streaks on the line against one another on Saturday afternoon in the Bill Vining Arena, but it was Ouachita who remained on a winning streak as they pulled away from SAU late en route to an 84-69 win.
 
Despite the eventual 15-point win for the Tigers (8-8, 8-2 GAC), the game between Ouachita and the Muleriders (9-7, 6-4 GAC) was a tightly contested back-and-forth affair over the first half of the game and through the first 10 minutes or so of the second half as there were eight tie scores and six lead changes in that time.
 
After a 34-all score took the game into halftime, it was Ouachita who came out of the locker room and began to establish control early in the second half. After the two teams matched buckets to start the second half, Ouachita ripped off a 10-3 run over the next 1:45 to give them a seven-point lead, 48-41, with 17:01 to go.
 
Over the next three minutes, the two teams would continue to trade baskets, but a 4-0 burst by the Muleriders brought them to within three points, 54-51 with 14:06 left in the game. The Tigers, however would answer that back and tripled their lead out to nine points, 60-51, as they hit trifectas on back-to-back possessions.
 
Trailing by their largest margin of the game at nine points, the Muleriders would surge back into the game and go on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes of the game to pull to within a single point, 62-61, with 10:18 remaining on the clock in the second half.
 
After pulling the game to within a point, the Muleriders forced a turnover and had a chance to take their first lead since the first half, but a pair of shots drew iron on that possession, keeping the Ouachita out in front.
 
Over the next 3:19 of the game, the Muleriders would remain within striking distance of the Tigers trailing by no more than five points and getting as close as three points on three separate occasions. The final of those instances came at the 6:59 mark of the second half and made it a 70-67 game.
 
Unfortunately, the Muleriders' offensive production would dry up over the remainder of the game as they managed just two more points the rest of the way out. Conversely, on the other side of the court, the Tigers would score 14 points to lift them to their 15-point win over the Muleriders.
 
Statistically, three Muleriders would score in double figures with Alvin Braddock, CJ Elkins and Denarious Lockhart all scoring 14 points each, respectively. Lockhart and Braddock would also combine for 13 rebounds with Lockhart hauling in seven. Lockhart also added four blocks.
 
The Muleriders will look to bounce back quickly as they are set to kick-off a three-home game set next week starting with a Monday evening game against Harding. This is a makeup for Thursday's postponement