CLINTON, Miss. – In their first action in three weeks, the Southern Arkansas men's basketball team overcame a seven-point halftime deficit and built a lead as large as nine points in the second half, but a furious comeback effort by Mississippi College was too much to stave off as the Choctaws upended the Muleriders 66-63 on Saturday evening at the A.E. Wood Coliseum.
 
RECORDS
Southern Arkansas Muleriders (4-6)
Mississippi College Choctaws (5-5)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – First Half

• Scoring was tough to come by in the early going as it was a 4-all game through the first media timeout.
• Mississippi College broke that early tie coming out of the media timeout on a jumper by Brandon Boston, and the Choctaws would stay in the lead the remainder of the first half.
• Despite trailing for the entirety of the first half, the Muleriders were able to keep the game within reach as the largest lead of the first 20 minutes for the Choctaws was just eight points. That margin came at the 9:10 mark with the score being 18-10 in favor of MC
• The Muleriders pulled the score down to a possession on a made jumper by DeVante Brooks at the 5:28 mark, and again seconds later on a pair of free throws by CJ Elkins, but the Choctaws did not allow their lead to diminish any further and carried a seven-point advantage into the break, 36-29.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – Second Half

• Coming out of the break, SAU went on a 7-0 run over the first two minutes to knot the game at 36-all. It was the first tie score since early in the first half at four-all. Fueling that SAU run were a pair of jumpers by Elkins and a trifecta by Keeton Tennison.
• MC then went on a quick 6-0 burst over the next minute and a half, but the Muleriders answered right back with a run of their own. That run was 10-0 by the Muleriders and gave SAU their first lead of the game with just over 12 minutes left to play.
• The Muleriders would maintain that lead for the better part of the next 10 minutes and swelled their advantage to as large as nine points, 62-53, with 6:00 left on the clock as Draylan Perkins nailed a three-pointer.
• From there, however, the offense for the Muleriders went cold as they missed their last nine field goal attempts and were 1-of-4 from the charity stripe.
• During that time, the Choctaws were able to claw their way back into the game and eventually take the lead thanks to a sudden knock down of three-pointers. From the 6:00 mark in which they faced their largest deficit, MC made 4-of-7 (.574) three-point shots. Prior to that stretch, the Choctaws were just 5-of-18 (.278)
• The final of the late MC three-pointers was knocked down by Antonio Johnson and gave the Choctaws a three-point lead, 65-62, with 1:03 left to play. Johnson was whistled for a technical foul immediately following that knock down, but SAU was only able to capitalize on one of the ensuing free throw attempts to make it a two-point game.
• After MC split free throw attempts of their own, SAU had the final possession with a chance to tie the game at the horn, but the attempt by Brooks in the waning moments drew iron.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Freshman forward DeVante Brooks notched his third career double-double as he had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Brooks' double-double games are the only times he has scored in double figures or hauled in double-digit rebounds respectively as well.
• Four of the five starters scored in double figures with CJ Elkins leading the way with 14 points. Elkins also dished out seven assists to lead the team. The seven assists tied a career-best for Elkins as well.

 
UP NEXT
The Muleriders will now turn their focus towards the upcoming Great American Conference slate. SAU's GAC-exclusive schedule for the remainder of the season begins with a trip out west to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. The game with NWOSU will be on Thursday, January 4 at 7:30 p.m. and the game at SWOSU will be on Saturday, January 6 at 3 p.m. Check www.MuleriderAthletics.com for live links of the games.