WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Aaron Lucas tied a career-high in scoring with 18 points while leading four other Muleriders in double figures and Southern Arkansas survived Southwestern Oklahoma 76-73 in Great American Conference on Saturday afternoon inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
 
The Muleriders (10-2, 5-1 GAC) picked up their fourth consecutive win, and fourth-straight against Southwestern Oklahoma, after battling the Bulldogs in a contest that saw twenty lead changes and 16 tied scores. SAU has won ten of their first twelve games of the season which is a Division II Era (1995-96) best and it stands as the best dozen game beginning to a season since the 1989-90 campaign.
 
SAU overcame 16 turnovers and a 14.2% shooting clip from three-point range, while defensively absorbing 26 points from the league's leading scorer in SWOSU's Tre Evans. Two days after sending Northwestern Oklahoma to the free throw line for 38 attempts, the Muleriders claimed 39 attempts from the charity stripe and successfully knocked down 25 of those with seven coming in the final four minutes.
 
In the game's final two minutes, the Muleriders received back-to-back buckets beginning first with a layup from Devante Brooks that broke a 68-68 tie and then on a jumper from Snyder Cenecharles on the team's next trip down the court that put SAU up 72-68 with 50 seconds to play. Those two shots would prove huge as the Bulldogs would keep the deficit at one possession as Nick Shoemaker knocked down a three-point field goal with 23 seconds left that pulled SWOSU to within 74-73.
 
Frank Royles connected on a free throw attempt and Cenecharles knocked down a free throw with four seconds left to cushion the lead late.
 
Lucas' 18 points came on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-6 from deep with a 7-of-9 success rate at the charity stripe. He added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Jalen Brooks delivered 13 points and 11 rebounds, six offensively, in his second double-double effort of the season and collected four steals. Four other players grabbed at least five boards with Royles following J. Brooks with eight rebounds. Charlie Thomas added a dozen points, while CJ Elkins and D. Brooks followed with 11 and ten points respectively.
 
Southern Arkansas outscored SWOSU 22-6 in second chance points including a dozen in the back-and-forth second half.
 
Southern Arkansas returns to Magnolia for the team's first action inside the W.T. Watson Center in 2019. The Muleriders welcome in East Central on Thursday, January 10 for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off and play host to Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday, January 12 at 3 p.m. Live coverage links available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.