MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Four Muleriders scored in double figures and Southern Arkansas employed a stout defense that held East Central under 60 points for the first time this season as the team picked up its fifth-straight victory to go along with the best 13-game start to a season in 29 years after the 72-58 win over the Tigers on Thursday night inside a full W.T. Watson Center.
 
The Muleriders (11-2, 6-1) were led in scoring by a trio of seniors as Draylan Perkins, Wesley Nosakhare, and CJ Elkins combined for 38 points in the win. Nosakhare, who was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor and made his lone free throw attempt, and freshman Jalen Brooks grabbed seven rebounds each and junior Frank Royles added six rebounds.
 
SAU outscored the Tigers 44-24 in points in the paint due in large part to the play of Nosakhare as well as the efforts of Perkins, Elkins and sophomore Aaron Lucas in driving to the basket and converting tough contact buckets.
 
Southern Arkansas shot 46.2% from the floor, but struggled from deep (6-of-27) and from the charity stripe (6-of-14). However, the Muleriders manufactured a stiff defense performance coupled with a tough shooting night by the Tigers as the visitors shot just 35.7% overall with a 13.6% success rate (3-of-22) from beyond-the-arc. SAU committed just nine turnovers that resulted in only eight Tiger points.
 
The contest saw seven lead changes, while the Muleriders' largest lead of the night was 20 points just under the 16-minute media timeout of the second half.
 
The Muleriders look keep pace among the league leaders and will turn their attention to Saturday's pivotal Great American Conference meeting with Southeastern Oklahoma at 3 p.m. from inside the W.T. Watson Center. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.