MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Trailing by nine with just under three and a half minutes remaining in the game, Southern Arkansas engineered a 7-0 run to pull within a possession of the Northwestern Oklahoma lead at 65-63. The Muleriders, with 2.7 seconds left, had an opportunity to win the game on their final possession, but a deep, contested three-pointer from the stroke of
CJ Elkins missed off the back iron and the Rangers survived the Great American Conference affair on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.
A three-pointer by
Draylan Perkins cut the Southern Arkansas deficit to six points at 65-59 with 2:17 to play in the game. Elkins then followed forty seconds later with a pair of free throws to pull the Muleriders to within two possessions of Northwestern Oklahoma at the 1:39 mark of the second half. Less than ten seconds later,
Trey Davis converted one of two attempts from the free throw line and with 21 seconds to play, Elkins followed by connecting on one of two attempts from the charity stripe, before the aforementioned last possession came up short.
Southern Arkansas carried a five-point lead into the halftime break, but quickly saw that advantage deflate coming out of the intermission as the Rangers manufactured a 21-5 run to start the second half. That run was a part of a larger 29-7 Northwestern Oklahoma run that began with 3:46 remaining in the first half.
The contest featured 13 lead changes and six tied scores. Both teams' largest lead of the game was 11 with Southern Arkansas' coming at the 3:46 mark of the first half and Northwestern Oklahoma's developing at the 14:12 mark of the second half.
Northwestern Oklahoma finished with a 52.0% (26-of-50) shooting clip from the floor and just 50.0% (8-of-16) from the free throw line. After making just one of their eight shots from beyond-the-arc in the first half, the Rangers managed to hit four of their five attempts in the second half. The Muleriders shot 44.9% (22-of-49) from the field, made six of 19 three-point attempts, and posted a 72.2% (13-of-18) from the free throw line.
DeVante Brooks was the leading scorer for Southern Arkansas on Saturday dropping 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. He added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Elkins was the other Mulerider to score in double figures as he finished with a dozen points, a team-high five rebounds, and three assists.
Charlie Thomas also finished with five rebounds and Perkins dished out a game-high four assists and added four rebounds.
The loss puts SAU's conference slate at 8-9 with five games remaining in the regular season. The Muleriders are currently in seventh place, one-game back of Arkansas Tech and Arkansas-Monticello for a three-way tie for fifth place and just one game up on Henderson State and Ouachita who each sit tied for eighth at 7-10. Southern Arkansas has all four aforementioned opponents remaining on the schedule.
The Muleriders return to the court on Thursday, February 22, for an in-state clash with Arkansas Tech, who enters with a 9-8 league record. The Muleriders beat ATU on the road in Russellville 80-76 on January 13. Tip-off from inside the W.T. Watson Center is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Live links for all of the action are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
