ALVA, Okla. – The Southern Arkansas Mulerider Basketball team did not trail for the first 15-plus minutes of action during Thursday night's Great American Conference tilt against Northwestern Oklahoma State, but the Rangers used a 16-2 run to close out the first half and gain the momentum as NWOSU downed the Muleriders, 84-63, inside Percefull Fieldhouse in Alva.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Draylan Perkins scored the game's first points on a successful three-pointer off of an assist from Keeton Tennison during Southern Arkansas' first possession and the Muleriders would build a nine-point advantage over the next seven and a half minutes of play. Four additional Muleriders joined Perkins in the scoring act as SAU's lead stood at 15-6 with 12:28 remaining in the first half.
• Following a layup by Trey Davis, Northwestern Oklahoma answered with a 7-0 run to pull within a bucket at 15-13 at the 10:43 mark of the opening half. KJ Collins assisted Gabe Gilliam on an inside basket to put the SAU lead back to four and in the process sparked an 8-0 Mulerider run that cushioned the SAU lead to 10, 23-13, twelve and a half minutes into the game.
• Highlighting the 8-0 streak was a basket by Perkins following Gilliam's bucket and consecutive makes from CJ Elkins.
• After a three-pointer from the Rangers' Cody Halverson, Aaron Lucas knocked down a midrange jumper as the SAU rose to nine points with 6:01 to play before the intermission.
• The difference in the first half came in the period's final six minutes as Northwestern Oklahoma engineered a 16-2 run, including a trio of three-pointers to take a 32-27 lead into the halftime break.
• Leading by just five heading into the second half, the Rangers drained back-to-back three-pointers to quickly push their lead to 11 and Southern Arkansas would be unable to pull any closer than nine points down the stretch as Northwestern employed runs of 6-0, 7-0 and 10-0 in the second half to claim the Great American Conference affair.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Perkins led all scorers with 18 points which included a game-high four trifectas and he added a game-high seven rebounds.
• Elkins followed with 13 points and Davis chipped in with ten points. Both players grabbed four rebounds with Elkins adding three assists and Davis collecting two blocks and a pair of steals.
• DeVante Brooks grabbed seven rebounds and Charlie Thomas added six boards.
• Northwestern Oklahoma sank half of its 22 three-point attempts and dished out 24 assists, while the Muleriders managed just six three-point makes in 29 attempts and seven assists.

 
UP NEXT
Southern Arkansas returns to action on Saturday, January 6, in Weatherford, Oklahoma for a 3 p.m. tip-off with Southwestern Oklahoma State from inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. Live coverage links available at www.muleriderathletics.com.