MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Sophomore forward Devante Brooks manufactured a hefty double-double in a gritty effort on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center as he grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with 20 points on an efficient 7-of-8 shooting from the floor and Southern Arkansas used several key three-pointers in the second-half from multiple players to snap a two-game skid in a 76-64 win over Southwestern Oklahoma in Great American Conference action.
 
The Muleriders (15-4, 10-3 GAC) climb back into a tie for second place in the league standings with Oklahoma Baptist as both teams sit one game back of conference-leading Southern Nazarene. SAU increased their home winning streak, which dates back to last season, to 11 games with the victory.
 
Brooks' busy night included a dozen defensive rebounds in his career-high 17 boards and he contributed three blocks to his stat line as well. Brooks, who twice left the game to be tended to by SAU Athletic Training staff, including once after suffering a hard fall to the floor, finished with 20 or more points for the third time in his career. Classmate guard Aaron Lucas added 16 points, three rebounds and three assists and sophomore Gabe Gilliam followed with 11 points; all in the second half.
 
Southern Arkansas led by a dozen at the intermission, but the Bulldogs used the first eight and a half minutes of the second half to cut the Mulerider lead to just three points at 42-39 courtesy of a 15-6 run by Southwestern Oklahoma out of the break.
 
However, the run by the Bulldogs would end as Gilliam began to heat up from range on the Muleriders' next two trips down the court following the Nick Shoemaker trifecta that brought the SAU advantage to a bucket.
 
Gilliam answered Shoemaker with a three-pointer of his own on an assist from Lucas and after a wild sequence that saw three turnovers in a 22 second span, including two by the Bulldogs that resulted in hustle steals by senior Snyder Cenecharles and sophomore Trey Davis, Gilliam connected again to push the lead to nine at 48-39 with 10:53 to play.
 
Brooks added an inside basket and Cenecharles knocked down a pair of free throws to push the lead back to double figures at the 9:19 mark of the second half.
 
Following a successful two-shot trip to the line by Gilliam, the trigger man hit on his third three-ball of the half, the second of which came on an assist from Lucas, as the SAU lead blossomed to 16 points with 8:32 to play. Southwestern Oklahoma would hang around and bring its deficit back to eight points, but three-pointers from Cenecharles and Lucas down the stretch coupled with superb inside play from Brooks helped put the Muleriders back in the win column.
 
SAU shot 43.6% (24-of-55) from the floor overall and hit on eight of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc, while the Bulldogs shot just 29.2% (19-of-65) from the field with six makes from deep in 30 attempts.
 
Southern Arkansas turns their attention to Northwestern Oklahoma (5-14, 3-10 GAC) on Saturday, February 2 at 3 p.m. from inside the W.T. Watson Center. The Rangers enter having dropped two-consecutive contests, but are the last team to beat the Muleriders in Magnolia. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.