MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team punched their ticket to the 2016 Great American Conference Basketball Championships in Bartlesville, Okla. as they converted on 11-of-12 free throws from the charity stripe over the final 1:41 of the game to salt away an 84-74 victory over Ouachita on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
The Muleriders (14-12, 11-9 GAC) officially clinched their berth after it was known that Southeastern Oklahoma lost their game on Saturday to Southern Nazarene. Going into the day, the Muleriders needed a win over Ouachita and a loss by Southeastern to clinch. Now, the Muleriders will play out their final two regular season games, both at home, looking to improve upon their standing heading into the tournament as they currently sit in a tie for fifth-place.
 
As far as Saturday's action, the Muleriders jumped out early on the Ouachita Tigers (15-11, 15-5 GAC), who entered play tied for first-place in the GAC, as SAU led the first six and a half minutes in what was a defensive standoff during that period.
 
Consecutive three-point baskets by the Tigers, however, gave Ouachita their first lead of the game at the 13:01 mark of the first half. The Tigers would continue to hold a lead until a breakaway layup by Jaron Davis gave SAU a slim one-point lead, 24-23, with 3:09 left in the half. About a minute later, the Tigers would go back on top as Tirrell Brown connected on a pair of free throws with 2:07 remaining.
 
The Tigers would go on to out-score SAU 6-2 over the remainder of the first half to take a five-point lead into the break, 31-26.
 
Coming out of the break, Ouachita attempted to take the level of offensive production up a notch as they opened the first minute and a half on a 6-0 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game, 11 points, 37-26, with18:32 remaining in the game.
 
With the Tigers leading by 11 points still at the 17:46 mark of the second half, the Muleriders would go on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes of game time to pull to within three points, 41-38, with 14:40 showing on the clock.
 
The Tigers would break that run their next trip down the court as Brown converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Over the next three and a half minutes of game time, the Tigers would remain out in front and a three-pointer by Justin McCleary at the 10:52 mark put Ouachita ahead by double-digits once more, 56-46.
 
Over the next 3:21 following the trifecta by McCleary, however, saw the Muleriders make a furious 13-2 run as they recaptured the lead, 59-58, with 7:31 left in the game. A McCleary three-pointer followed on Ouachita's next possession to swing the Tigers back on top by two, 61-59. A pair of Jordan Corbitt free throws followed to make it a quick 5-0 Tiger burst while giving Ouachita a four-point lead, 63-59, with 6:47 left.
 
The next three minutes off the clock proved to be the turning point in the game as during that stretch, the Muleriders would rip off a 12-0 run to give SAU an eight-point lead, 71-63, with 3:46 remaining. During that run, the Muleriders were 4-of-5 overall from the floor, 1-for-1 from long range, and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Conversely, the Tigers were 0-for-4 overall from the floor, 0-for-2 from long range, while also committing two turnovers.
 
The Tigers would slowly work their way back into the game, cutting SAU's lead down to six points on a couple of occasions, but starting at the 1:41 mark of the second half, the Muleriders would convert 11-of-12 free throw opportunities as they iced away the game, eventually ending with a 10-point win, 84-74.
 
Statistically, the Muleriders would shot 51% overall from the floor (30-of-59) with just one of those field goal makes coming from beyond the arc as they were 1-of-8 (13%) from three-point range. On the other end of the court, the Tigers shot 48% overall from the floor (29-of-60) and they were also 7-of-18 (39%) from long range.
 
The Muleriders were able to make up the scoring difference between the two teams from the three-point line as SAU went 23-of-30 (77%) from the charity stripe for the game. The 23 made free throws tied a season-best for the team and were 14 more than Ouachita as the Tigers made just nine free throws in the game.
 
Individually, the Muleriders had four players score in double figures with Deon Andrews, Kevin Jordan, and Denarious Lockhart all scoring 14 points each to lead the team. De'Sean Dockery would add 11 points to finish in double figures as well. Jordan's 14 points came on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line as he came off the bench providing big minutes and offensive production.
 
The Muleriders will now prepare for the final week of the regular season as they are set to play the final two games at home. The first of those will be on Thursday night against Oklahoma Baptist and the final regular season game being against Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon.