SEARCY, Ark. – In a primetime Great American Conference affair that saw 16 lead changes, 11 tied scores and the largest lead for either side stand at just six points, it was Harding that had the final say on Saturday night inside Rhodes Reaves Field House as the Bisons tripped up the Muleriders, 67-61.
The defeat puts Southern Arkansas at 13-12 overall and 9-10 in league play and sets up a pivotal seven day stretch for the Muleriders with all three remaining regular season games chock-full of postseason implications.
Southern Arkansas tied a season-low mark in turnovers by committing only 11, but Harding managed to produce 15 points off of those turnovers including 11 points in the second half. Harding also outscored the Muleriders in second chance points 22-7 with a dozen of the Bisons' points in the category coming in the final twenty minutes of play.
With 4:03 remaining in the game, Harding's Zac Ward answered a go-ahead jumper by
CJ Elkins and scored inside to regain the lead for the Bisons at 57-56. Less than twenty seconds later, on the ensuing trip down the court for the Muleriders,
DeVante Brooks scored to put SAU back on top at 58-57 and moments later Elkins converted the second of two free throws to make a it a two-point lead for Southern Arkansas with 2:51 to play.
That would stand as the last lead for SAU in the game as the Muleriders would be unable to convert a field goal for the remainder of the contest, while Harding finished the evening on a 10-2 run, including 4-of-6 shooting from the free throw line.
SAU shot 40.0% (20-of-50) from the floor on Saturday night, including season-lows in three-point attempts (13) and three-point makes (4). Additionally, the Muleriders made just 17 of their 30 free throw attempts.
Elkins, along with
Draylan Perkins, scored 13 points apiece for Southern Arkansas, while Elkins added eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals in a game-high 36 minutes of action. Brooks also added eight rebounds, collected a career-high five blocks, and picked up two steals.
Charlie Thomas finished with six rebounds.
With the loss, the Muleriders move into a three-way tie for sixth place with Arkansas Tech and Ouachita, but hold the tiebreaker over Arkansas Tech having won the season series against the Wonder Boys. Southern Arkansas and Ouachita meet in Arkadelphia in the regular season finale. SAU is one-game back of Arkansas-Monticello for a potential two-way tie for fifth place and just one game up on Henderson State who at the moment sits in ninth and is currently on the outside looking in for the postseason at 8-11. Southern Arkansas meets UAM on Tuesday night in Monticello, hosts Henderson State in a high stakes affair on Thursday and closes out the regular season with a trip to Clark Country to face Ouachita on Saturday.
The Muleriders return to the court on Tuesday, February 20, in Monticello for a primetime "Rivalry Tuesday" clash against the Boll Weevils, who enter with a 10-9 league record and in fifth-place in the GAC. The Muleriders beat UAM at home 69-68 in a thriller on January 23. Tip-off from inside Steelman Field House is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Live links for all of the action are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
