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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
3-1
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TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
LIONS
3-0
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WILLIAMS BAPTIST
EAGLES
3-3
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Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team is taking a brief break from Great American Conference play this week with a pair of non-conference games.
First up is a tough road test against Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday night. The Lions made the NCAA Tournament two years ago and have won 17 or more games in each of the previous three seasons.
On Saturday, the Muleriders will be back at home to take on Williams Baptist inside the W.T. Watson Center. The Eagles hail from the NAIA ranks
MULERIDER NEWS & NOTES
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team enters play this week with a 3-1 overall record. The Muleriders are riding a three-game winning streak with the last two of those coming in Great American Conference play.
On the season, the Muleriders are averaging 70.8 points per game, which ranks 10th in the GAC. Defensively, the Muleriders rank second in scoring defense in the GAC at 64.8 points per game, and their +6.0 scoring margin ranks fifth in the league.
As a team, the Muleriders are shooting .422 (97-of-230) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .308 (24-of-78) from long range. From the free throw line, the Muleriders are shooting .699 (65-of-93). Their overall field goal percentage ranks ninth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks in a tie for ninth. At the charity stripe the Muleriders' percentage ranks seventh.
Individually, the Muleriders have two players who are averaging double figures in scoring with
CJ Elkins leading the team at 20.5 points per game. Elkins' scoring average ranks 3rd in the GAC.
Snyder Cenecharles is next on the team and rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.5 ppg.
The leading rebounder on the team is
Denarious Lockhart with 9.0 rpg. Elkins and
Darnell Jones-Bowie are the top assist men on the team with an average of 2.3 assists per game each.
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 TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
The Texas A&M-Commerce basketball team enters play with a 3-0 overall record, all against non-conference opponents. The Lions have wins over Oklahoma Christian, Newman, and Dallas Christian to begin their season. This will also be the Lions' fourth-straight game at home.
As a team, the Lions are shooting .500 (116-of-232) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .348 (24-of-69) from long range. From the free throw line, the Lions are shooting .707 (58-of-82). Their overall field goal percentage ranks second in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks sixth.
At the charity stripe the Lions' percentage ranks second. So far this season, the Lions are averaging 104.7 points per game offensively, and are allowing a 75.0 points per game defensively. Their +29.7 scoring margin ranks first in the LSC.
Three Lions are averaging double-figures in scoring with senior guard Malik Albert leading the team with 19.3 points per game. Trey Seymore is next with 15.0 points per game and De'Andre Carson rounds out double-digit scoring with 13.3 points per game. Dorian Amrstrong is the team's leading rebounder at 6.0 rebounds per game. Seymore is also the team's top assist man at 3.7 assists per game.
COACH
The Lions are coached by Sam Walker, who is in his 17th season at Texas A&M-Commerce. In his 16 previous seasons, Walker has led the Lions to a 266-191 overall record and in 10 seasons, the Lions have won at least 15 games. Of those years, the Lions have won 20 or more games twice.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
This will be the first meeting this year between the Muleriders and the Lions. Last year, the two teams did not play and it was the first time since 2010 that they did not play.
THE SERIES
This is the 27th meeting between SAU and TAMU-C since the 1997-98 season. During that time, TAMU-C holds a commanding 23-3 lead. SAU's last win over Commerce came in 2004 as the Lions have won the last 14 meetings.
SCOUTING WILLIAMS BAPTIST
The Williams Baptist basketball team enters play this weekend with a 3-3 overall record with one more game on the schedule prior to playing the Muleirders.
On the season, the Eagles are averaging 75.0 points per game and defensively, they are allowing 74.2 points per game.
As a team, the Eagles are shooting .449 (158-of-352) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .381 (43-of-113) from long range. From the free throw line, the Eagles are shooting .595 (91-of-153).
Individually, one Eagle is averaging double figures with Reece Dunlap leading the way at 13.7 points per game. Marcus Springer is the team's leading rebounder at 5.5 boards per game. Demoine Brown is the leading assist man on the team at 2.7 assists per game.
COACH
The Eagles are coached by Josh Austin, who is in his sixth season as the head coach at Williams Baptist. Under Austin, CBC has broke over 12 school records, including the most wins in a single season with 22.
THE SERIES
This is the 3rd meeting between Southern Arkansas and Williams Baptist with SAU holding a 2-0 lead in the series. All of the games in the series have been played in Magnolia.
