MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team snapped a season-long five-game losing streak on Saturday as the Muleriders upended visiting Ouachita by a score of 69-67 inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
RECORDS
Ouachita Tigers (8-7, 6-5 GAC)
Southern Arkansas Muleriders (7-10, 5-6 GAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• SAU got off to a great all-around start as the Muleriders led 9-0 with just over three minutes gone off the clock while forcing the Tigers to turn the ball over twice and miss their first four shot attempts.
• Ouachita cracked the scoreboard for the first time at 16:38 mark when Justin McCleary knocked down a three-pointer. Over the next three minutes or so, McCleary accounted for seven more points including another triple at the 14:00 mark to give the Tigers a 13-11 lead.
• Two more Tiger three-pointers followed to give Ouachita an eight-point lead, 19-11 with 11:34 on the clock, and extend their run out to 19-2.
• A three-pointer by Synder Cenecharles on the next trip down the floor broke the Mulerider scoring drought, but the Tigers remained out in front for most of the rest of the first half. 
• The Muleriders were able to keep cutting into their deficit and eventually tied the game at 35-all with 1:14 left when Cenecharles cashed in a layup. The Tigers got the final shot in the half, but a three-pointer drew iron and it as a tie game at the break.
• Cenecharles remained a scoring threat early in the second half as he scored SAU's first five points to help give the Muleriders the lead.
• A dunk by Tony Aksa at the 15:10 mark of the second half gave the Muleriders a six-point lead, 45-39. That margin would be SAU's largest lead of the game.
• Ouachita eventually tied the game up at 49-all with just under 12:30 left to play on a three-pointer by Jordan Corbitt. That tie was the first of five tie scores that occurred over the course of the remainder of the game.
• Not only was the score being tied frequently, the lead changed hands a total of six times as well after the game was knotted at 49-all. During that period, the largest lead for either team was just four points.
• The game's final lead change came just in front of the final media timeout as Aska split a pair of free throws to give SAU a one-point lead, 66-65. On the other side of the media, Aska split another two free throw attempts, giving SAU a two-point advantage with 3:12 to go.
• Following a missed three-pointer, CJ Elkins sunk a painted jumper to make it a four-point game with right at 2:30 left in regulation.
• Ouachita's Carven Holcolmbe then scored his 16^th points of the game, all in the second half, on a layup to cut the Mulerider lead in half and made it a one-possession game.
• That was the margin when, under 10 seconds left and the shot clock dwindling, the Muleriders put up a three-pointer that didn't fall, but Elkins skied for what appeared to be a game-sealing offensive rebound. However, the ball was quickly poked away by Ouachita and the Tigers were able to get a running look at a game-winning three at the buzzer. It drew back iron and the Muleriders held on for the two-point victory.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Snyder Cenecharles had a bounce-back game offensively as he scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. In his previous game, Cenecharles had just four points on 1-of-13 shooting. Additionally, the 19 points are a season-high.
• Tony Aska came away with his second double-double of the season with a 15-point, 11-rebound performance. The 15 points were a season-high.
• As a team, the Muleriders were efficient, connecting on 48% of their field goal attempts overall from the floor. They were also able to overcome 12 made three-pointers by the Tigers.
• In terms of specialty stats, the Muleriders owned the paint, out-scoring the Tigers, 36-18. In the first half, that discrepancy was larger, 16-2, in favor of SAU.
• The Muleriders tied the game three times and came from behind to grab a lead on four separate occasions in the second half alone.

 
UP NEXT
The Muleriders will make an Oklahoma road swing next week as they travel to Durant to take on Southeastern Oklahoma on Thursday and then on to Ada on Saturday to clash with East Central. Thursday's game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday is set for 1 p.m.