MAGNOLIA, Ark. - With nine games remaining on the Great American Conference's regular season slate, the Southern Arkansas Mulerider Basketball team will face a pair of pivotal league matchups this weekend beginning with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off with Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, on Thursday, February 4, before concluding their final Oklahoma road trip with a 2:00 p.m. start time in Weatherford against Southwestern Oklahoma State.

The Muleriders (10-9, 7-6 GAC) find themselves currently in a three-way tie for fourth with Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene, while Northwestern Oklahoma State sits in seventh at 6-7 in league play, in a very wide-open Great American Conference standings. In their previous tilts this past December, Southern Arkansas suffered a 67-59 loss to the Rangers (Dec. 3) and a tough 77-74 defeat to the Bulldogs (Dec. 5).

This season the Muleriders have benefitted from five double-figure scorers, led by Jaron Davis' 15.0 points per game (12^th/GAC). CJ Elkins and Deon Andrews average over 11 points per game, while Denarious Lockhart and Alvin Braddock chip in at a clip of 10 points per game.

Braddock paces the GAC in shooting percentage at a clip of 61.7% from the floor and also ranks eighth in the league in rebounds per game, bringing down an average of 6.4 boards per game. Davis is currently ninth in the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.4, while averaging the league's third-most assists per game at 4.6 and forcing 1.4 steals per game (7^th/GAC) on the defensive end. Keeton Tennison leads the SAU attack from beyond the arc shooting the GAC's second-best clip of 47.4%. De'Sean Dockery averaged 13.0 points per game last week shooting a highly effiecent 73% (11-of-15) from the field.

As a team, the Muleriders score at a clip of 76.6 points per game at the league's third-highest shooting percentage of 46.3%, while holding opponents just under 75 points and 44% shooting. SAU brings in the second-most rebounds per game at 40.2, while averaging 12.3 assists, 6.2 steals, and 3.5 blocked shots per contest.
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Southern Arkansas will look for their first win in Alva on Thursday night. The Rangers have won their last four home-meetings against SAU, with last February's matchup ending up in a 76-69 Northwestern win.

Northwestern Oklahoma State came away with an eight-point victory this past December in the GAC-home opener for SAU inside the W.T. Watson Center. In that contest, the Rangers benefited from 20 second-chance points, while also receiving 31 bench points to outlast the Muleriders.

For Northwestern (6-11, 6-7 GAC), all of their wins have come in GAC play, while their four home losses, which includes three games against GAC competition (Harding, Arkansas Tech, Ouachita) have come at an average of eight points per game.

The Rangers average 73.8 points per game at 43.9% from the floor, while allowing opponents to score just over 77 points per contest at 48.6% shooting. They own the league's second-best free throw percentage at a clip of 71.5% and average 34.4 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 6.2 steals, and 1.1 blocked shots per game.

Adrian Motley leads the way for the Rangers, averaging 17.9 points (4^th/GAC) and 7.4 rebounds (3^rd/GAC), while shooting a team-high 78.4% from the charity stripe (11^th). T'aries Taylor adds 11.7 points per game and Zach Dumas follows with 11.6 points per game. Brandon Green is second in the GAC in assists per game with 4.9 and also ranks ninth in the conference in steals per game with 1.3. Taylor paces the Rangers in steals with 1.6 per game (5^th/GAC) and Dumas adds 1.2 steals per game (11^th/GAC), while the former is also the team-leader in three-point shooting percentage at a clip of 42.2%.

Fans can follow the action from Percefull Fieldhouse in Alva here via live stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nwosu/mbball/, live audio: http://ow.ly/XUPEO, and live video: http://nwosu.sidearmsports.com/watch/?Live=43.
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The Muleriders' final Oklahoma road game of the '15-16 season will be a 2 p.m. tip-off in Weatherford against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday where SAU is 1-3 since 2011-12 after picking up their first road-win over the Bulldogs in an 81-73 victory last January.

In their previous meeting this year, Southwestern Oklahoma escaped the W.T. Watson Center with a three-point victory, despite 21 points from Davis and a double-double by Braddock after the Muleriders rallied from 15 points down to make it a one-possession ballgame with under a minute remaining.

The Bulldogs (11-8, 7-6 GAC) have seven wins at home this season, by an average of over 15 points per game. Southwestern Oklahoma averages 75.6 points per game on 42.2% shooting from the floor, while allowing the opposition to score at a clip of 74.1 points per game at 42.6% shooting. Southwestern Oklahoma averages just under 39 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 6.2 steals and 3.9 blocked shots (2^nd/GAC) per game.

Martell Collins facilitates the Bulldog offense, leading the team in points per game at 17.9, while averaging 6.1 rebounds per game. Markeise Champion adds 14.9 points per game and averages 3.3 assists and the league's fourth highest three-point shooting clip at 46.5%. Emeche Wells owns the tenth-best shooting percentage in the conference with a mark north of 50%, while leading the GAC in steals per game with 2.3. Juwan Newmen and Ayo Ojo combine for almost 13 rebounds and over two blocks per game.

Fans can follow the action from inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in Weatherford here via live stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/swosu/mbball/, live audio: http://ow.ly/XUPEO, and live video: http://livestream.com/accounts/5503429.
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Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for continuing coverage of Mulerider basketball including pregame and postgame updates and the coach's show with head coach Andy Sharpe.