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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
1-1 (0-0 GAC)
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EAST CENTRAL
TIGERS
0-2 (0-0 GAC)
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SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
SAVAGE STORM
1-1 (0-0 GAC)
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Thursday, November 17 | 7:30 p.m.
W.T. Watson Center - Magnolia, Ark.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
Saturday, November 19 | 3 p.m.
W.T. Watson Center - Magnolia, Ark.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team is set to open up the Great American Conference portion of their schedule this weekend as they welcome in East Central on Thursday and Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday. Thursday's game against ECU will also represent SAU's home-opener. Under head coach
Andy Sharpe, SAU is 3-1 in home-openers. ECU will also be SAU's second GAC opponent to serve as the home-opener.
Last year, East Central claimed a share of the regular season championship with Harding after a 17-5 GAC record, and Southeastern narrowly missed out on the conference tournament after losing the tiebreaker with Northwestern Oklahoma following a 9-13 league campaign.
MULERIDER NEWS & NOTES
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 1-1 overall record and will be playing their first conference games of the year.
On the season, the Muleriders are averaging 76.0 points per game, which ranks in a tie for sixth in the GAC. Defensively, the Muleriders rank sixth in scoring defense in the GAC at 75.0 points per game, and their -1.0 scoring margin ranks in a tie for fifth in the league.
As a team, the Muleriders are shooting .434 (49-of-113) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .405 (17-of-42) from long range. From the free throw line, the Muleriders are shooting .771 (37-of-48). Their overall field goal percentage ranks ninth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks sixth. At the charity stripe the Muleriders' percentage ranks fourth.
Individually, the Muleriders have three players who are averaging double figures in scoring with
CJ Elkins leading the team at 24.0 points per game. Elkins' scoring average ranks 3rd in the GAC.
Snyder Cenecharles is next on the team at 12.5 ppg. Rounding out double figure scoring on the season is
Denarious Lockhart at 11.0 ppg.
The leading rebounder on the team is Lockhart with 7.5 rpg. Elkins is the top assist man on the team with an average of 2.0 assists per game.
COACH
The Muleriders are coached by
Andy Sharpe, who is in his fifth season at Southern Arkansas. In his time at SAU, Sharpe has amassed a 55-59 overall record.
Over the past two seasons, Sharpe has begun to turn the Muleriders into serious contenders in the GAC as SAU has won 24 conference games and have finished in the top half of the standings each year as well. Overall in the past two seasons, Sharpe has guided the Muleriders to a 32-25 record while also posting consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
The East Central basketball team enters play with a 0-2 overall record and will be playing their first Great American Conference game of the year against Southern Arkansas. The Tigers, like the Muleriders, opened up their 2016-17 season with a games against teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) as part of the GAC/MIAA/NSIC Challenge.
In that opening weekend crossover, ECU took on Washburn to begin the year and defending national champion Augustana in the second game. The Tigers dropped both games, losing by 20 to Washburn and just six points to Augustana.
As a team, the Tigers are shooting .339 (38-of-115) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .245 (12-of-49) from long range. From the free throw line, the Tigers are shooting .673 (35-of-52). Their overall field goal percentage ranks 11th in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage also ranks 11th. At the charity stripe the Tigers' percentage ranks seventh.
So far this season, the Tigers are averaging 62.5 points per game offensively, and are allowing a 75.5 points per game defensively. Their -13.0 scoring margin ranks 11th in the GAC.
One Tiger is averaging double-figures in scoring with senior guard Braxton Reeves leading the team with 12.5 points per game. Ishmael Donzo is the team's leading rebounder at 7.5 rebounds per game. Reeves is also the team's top assist man at 2.0 assists per game.
COACH
The Tigers are coached by Ja Havens, who is in his fourth season at East Central. In his three previous seasons, Havens has led the Tigers to a 58-30 overall record. In each of the last two years, Havens' Tigers have won 20 or more games including a 22-8 record last year.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
This will be the first meeting this year between the Muleriders and the Tigers. Last year, the two teams met twice with SAU taking both match-ups.
THE SERIES
This is the 16th meeting between SAU and ECU since the 1997-98 season. During that time, ECU holds a slim 8-7 lead. Both SAU and ECU became charter members of the Great American Conference and started to play as conference foes in 2011-12. In that time, the two teams are knotted at five wins each.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
The Southeastern Oklahoma basketball team enters play this weekend with a 1-1 overall record and will be playing their first games in the Great American Conference as well. Southeastern's first GAC game will be Thursday night against Arkansas-Monticello.
On the young season, the Savage Storm are averaging 69.5 points per game, which ranks ninth in the GAC. Defensively, the Savage Storm have the top-ranked scoring defense among teams that have played in the GAC at 66.5 points per game and their +3.0 scoring margin ranksfourth in the league.
As a team, the Savage Storm are shooting .480 (49-of-102) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .433 (13-of-30) from long range. From the free throw line, the Savage Storm are shooting .683 (28-of-41). Their overall field goal percentage ranks fourth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks second. At the charity stripe the Savage Storm's percentage ranks sixth.
Individually, two players for the Savage Storm are averaging double figures with Tyler Lonzie leading the way at 19.5 points per game. Anton Cook is next in scoring at 12.5. Lonzie is also the team's leading rebounder at 8.5 boards per game. Jett Jobe is the leading assist man on the team at 4.0 assists per game.
COACH
The Savage Storm are coached by Kelly Green, who is in his sixth season as the head coach at Southeastern Oklahoma. In his first five seasons, Green has amassed a 70-97 overall record. Prior to his time at Southeastern, Green spent 14 seasons as the head coach at Arizona Western where he guided that junior college program to a 342-107 record.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
This will be the first meeting this year between the Muleriders and the Savage Storm. Last year, the two teams met twice and it was the Savage Storm who came away victorious in each game.
THE SERIES
This is the 46th meeting all-time between Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma with SAU holding a 24-21 lead in the series. Since the two became conference rivals at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, the Muleriders hold a 6-4 record over the Savage Storm.
