MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team will enter the upcoming Great American Conference Basketball Championship Tournament as one of the hottest teams among the eight-team field after SAU beat Southern Nazarene by a score of 63-55 on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.
The win against the Crimson Storm (13-15, 12-10 GAC) was the Muleriders' (16-12, 13-9 GAC) third-straight and 16th overall on the season. Those 16 wins thus far for the men's basketball team ties a program record for wins in a season since SAU became affiliated with NCAA Division II prior to the 1995-96 season.
Additionally, with the win, the Muleriders locked themselves into the final opening round game of the GAC Tournament as they ended up tied with Southwestern Oklahoma for fourth-place in the regular season standings. As a result of tiebreaker procedures with SWOSU, however, the Muleriders are slotted as the No. 5-seed and the Bulldogs will be the No. 4-seed.
The tournament game against the Bulldogs will be played on Thursday, March 3 and will have a scheduled tip-off time of 8 p.m.
For complete tournament coverage, check out the GAC's official "Tournament Central":
http://greatamericanconference.com/sports/2016/2/8/2016-GAC-BKB-CHAMPIONSHIPS.aspx
Prior to Saturday's game against the Crimson Storm, the Muleriders honored
Deon Andrews,
Alvin Braddock,
Desmond Champion,
Jaron Davis, and
Kevin Jordan as those five seniors were playing their final home game inside the W.T. Watson Center.
All five of those seniors transferred into the program last year and in their two seasons with the Muleriders, have helped the program post consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. Additionally, all five seniors got the start in Saturday's game.
