ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team tied a season-best in both three-pointers made and three-point percentage on the road against Henderson State on Saturday afternoon. For the game, SAU buried 15-of-30 (50%) shots from long range, and that potent attack from deep helped carry the Muleriders to a 90-76 win over the Reddies.
 
RECORDS
Southern Arkansas Muleriders (9-7, 5-5 GAC)
Henderson State Reddies (8-8, 3-6 GAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – First Half

• The Reddies scored the game's first points on a jumper by Josh Jones within the first minute of action, but would be the final time that SAU found themselves down on the scoreboard. Over the next three and a half minutes, SAU scored 14 unanswered points as they quickly took control of the game.
• During that initial surge, SAU made a trio of three-point shots with sharpshooters Draylan Perkins and Keeton Tennison each making good from long range. Additionally, CJ Elkins, who recently reached the 1,000-point mark in his career, knocked down a trifecta.
• At the 13:51 mark, Henderson shrunk their deficit to single digits on a jumper by the GAC's leading scorer, Kaylon Tappin, but on the ensuing trip down the floor, Perkins buried a triple to once more push the lead to double digits for the Muleriders.
• The Reddies would once more close the gap under single digits midway in the first half, but another three-pointer, this time from Gabe Gilliam, quelled any real threat to SAU's advantage.
• The Muleriders then continued to build upon their lead, stretching it out to as much as 19 points, 40-21, at the 4:58 mark. Henderson then generated a quick burst, going on an 8-2 run over the next 1:23 to make it a 42-32 game, but as they did numerous times already in the half, SAU's next bucket came from distance as Gilliam drained his second trifecta.
• With just 30 seconds remaining in the half, Gilliam made himself 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and in the process, giving the Muleriders a 13-point advantage at the break, 48-35.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – Second Half

• The double-digit lead for the Muleriders did not last long in the second half, however, as the Reddies came out of the locker room on fire and ripped off a 7-0 run over the first minute of play to suddenly make it a six-point game, 48-42.
• Elkins ended that furious Reddies' run with a pair of free throws to get the Muleriders on the board for the first time in the second half. Minutes later, Elkins gave SAU a double-digit cushion once more as he split a pair of free throws.
• After the Reddies pulled back within single digits again at the 13:06 mark (59-50), the Muleriders once more made a big three-pointer to crush momentum. This time it was DeVante Brooks that had the knock down.
• SAU and Henderson then traded painted buckets with Wesley Nosakhare being the latter half of the sequence. That inside score by Nosakhare sparked an 11-0 run by SAU as the next nine points came from long range. The first of those was credited to Brooks, while the final two were drained by Gilliam.
• Gilliam then sunk his sixth three-pointer of the game to give the Muleriders their largest lead of the game, 22 points, with 9:24 remaining on the clock.
• Trailing by that same margin with just over four minutes left, the Reddies mounted a modest comeback effort and brought themselves as close as 12 points with 1:06 remaining before the Muleriders eventually ended the game with a 14-point victory, 90-76.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Muleriders had five players score in double figures with two of those efforts coming off the bench as Gabe Gilliam had 18 points and Wesley Nosakhare 13, respectively. DeVante Brooks and CJ Elkins each had a dozen points as starters while fellow starter Keeton Tennison led the team with a game-high 20 points.
• Gilliam's six made three-pointers without a miss is the most in a game by a Mulerider since the 1998-99 season when Scotty Pennington went 7-of-7 from long range against Christian Brothers. Both Gilliam and Pennington's performances came in reserve minutes as well.
• Brooks hauled in a career-best 15 rebounds (11 defensive, 4 offensive) as he also registered his fourth double-double of his freshman season.
• As a team, SAU shot 52% overall from the floor, going 31-of-60. Almost half of those made field goals came from beyond the arc as the Muleriders made 15-of-30. Both of those marks from distance tied a season-best for SAU with their mirrored performance coming at home against Crowley's Ridge.
• Collectively, the Muleriders dished out their second-most assists in a game as they had 21 assists on their 31 made field goals. Additionally, SAU committed their fewest turnovers this season with 11.

 
UP NEXT
The Muleriders will now shift their focus to a pivotal week as they will play three games, all at home, beginning with a Tuesday night affair with Arkansas-Monticello as part of the GAC's "Rivalry Night". That game is being made up from a weather postponement this past Tuesday. Two days after that, SAU will host Oklahoma Baptist, and on Saturday, the Muleriders will take on GAC-leader, Southern Nazarene. In both of those games later in the week, SAU will be looking to even the season series after losing to both the Bison and Crimson Storm earlier this year.