BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – After a comeback win in which they overcame an 18-point deficit to knock off fourth-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night, the fifth-seeded Southern Arkansas Mulerider Hoops team is back in action on Saturday afternoon as they face the tournament's top-seed in Harding in a 2:15 p.m. tip-off inside Bruin Fieldhouse in the Great American Conference Tournament Semifinals.
 
The Muleriders (17-12) have won five out of their last six games and are prepared to challenge the league's regular season champion in Harding (19-9), who advanced to the semifinal round after a 76-61 victory over eighth-seeded Northwestern State. In the two previous meetings this season, the Bisons defeated Southern Arkansas both times: 82-67 in Magnolia and 89-83 in Searcy.
 
Southern Arkansas enters Saturday's matchup riding an NCAA Division II program record for wins in a season with 17. The Muleriders have averaged 77.0 points per game this season, while allowing their opposition to score an average of 74.1 points per game. The semifinal tilt will feature a pair of squads ranked in the GAC's top-three in field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense. SAU is third in both categories shooting 46.9% from the floor and defending at a clip of 43%, while the Bisons are tops in both statistics with a 47.6% mark shooting and an opponent success rate of 42.5%.
 
It will be a matchup of playing styles as Harding makes their living around the perimeter as they boast league bests in three-point percentage (40.2%) and three-point percentage defense (29.7%). Southern Arkansas likes to tangle inside as the Muleriders present a platoon of big men (Tony Aska, Alvin Braddock, Kevin Jordan, and Denarious Lockhart) that lead the league in rebounding offense at 41.3 rebounds per game, while surrendering just 34.7 boards defensively. The Bisons are eighth in each of those categories grabbing 35.2 rebounds per game, while giving up 37.0.
 
The Muleriders are fourth in the league in blocked shots average at 3.2 per game, while also placing fourth with 6.2 steals per game. Harding paces the conference in assists at 16.6 per contest.
 
Southern Arkansas provides a deep backcourt led by Conference Freshman of the Year CJ Elkins, De'Sean Dockery, Deon Andrews, All-GAC Honorable Mention selection Jaron Davis, Keeton Tennison, Desmond Champion and Daterrius Hubbard.
 
Harding relies on quality guard play as they are paced by GAC Player of the Year Jacob Gibson and All-GAC Second-Team Selections Blake McNair and Will Francis. Inside the Bisons are led by Stefan Andelkovic, Braden Eggleston, and Antoine Burrell.
 
In their most recent meeting this season, Harding outrebounded Southern Arkansas 39-36, but managed a season-low five made three-pointers, while the Muleriders outscored the Bisons 52-38 in the paint and 39-8 off of the bench.
 
For up-to-date individual statistics for both teams, follow this link: http://greatamericanconference.com/custompages/MBK%20Stats/2015-16/confldrs.htm.  
 
The winner of Saturday's semifinal showdown will advance to the tournament championship, matching up with the winner of three-seeded Ouachita and two-seed East Central on Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans can follow all the action live via live stats and live video from the GAC Sports Network by following this link to the GAC Basketball Championship Central: http://greatamericanconference.com/sports/2016/2/8/2016-GAC-BKB-CHAMPIONSHIPS.aspx. The Voice of the Muleriders, Dan Gregory, will have the play-by-play call live from inside Bruin Fieldhouse available here: http://bit.ly/1Tsc86R.