Magnolia, Ark. - The Muleriders host their first games of the 2019 calendar year as they welcome two Oklahoma schools, East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma, into the W. T. Watson Center this weekend for a pair of GAC matchups. 

On Thursday, the East Central Tigers will take on the Muleriders. The Tigers are 7-4 this season and 4-2 in GAC play. The Tigers are coming off wins against Harding and Arkansas Tech this past weekend by a combined margin of victory of 25 points. The Tigers beat the SWOSU Bulldogs by 27 points in Ada, a team the Muleriders only beat by three in Weatherford; the Tigers also beat the NWOSU Rangers by three points in overtime in Ada, while the Muleriders beat the Rangers by 12 points in Alva. 

For the second consecutive week, the Muleriders will be taking on a team with the reigning GAC player of the week. Last week, it was Trayvon Andres of NWOSU, and this week it's ECU's Camron Talley. Talley was named player of the week for scoring 53 points over the Tigers' past two games, and eclipsed 1,000 points for his career in the Tigers' game versus Arkansas Tech. For the season, Talley is averaging 22.4 points per game, and has played in 391 of a possible 440 minutes this season. Talley has made 42.1 percent of the Tigers' three-pointers (40 of 95) this season while attempting 41.9 percent (104 of 248) of the Tigers' attempts behind the arc. The Tigers have three additional players scoring in double digit averages: Da'Rion King (14.9 points per game); Tylor Arnold (10.7 ppg); and Gerron Jackson (10.0 ppg). Jackson leads the team in assists (3.1 apg) and King leads the team in rebounding (5.7 rpg). 

On Saturday, the Muleriders will play host to the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Storm are the only GAC team so far to beat Southern Nazarene this season, and are coming off home conference wins against Arkansas Tech and Harding by a combined margin of victory of 25 points. The Storm beat SWOSU by 15 points in Weatherford, compared to the Muleriders' three-point win over the Bulldogs in the same fixture. 

The Savage Storm are led in scoring by Kevin Buckingham. Buckingham, scoring 17.3 ppg, is shooting 61.4 percent from the floor this season while attempting 2.6 threes per game. Kellen Manek is averaging 15.9 ppg and Jett Jobe is averaging 11.8 ppg. Buckingham is also leading the Storm on the glass, grabbing 9.2 rpg. As a team, the Storm are shooting 37.2 percent from deep and 47.1 percent from the floor. 

The Muleriders enter this weekend off roads wins against NWOSU and SWOSU by a combined 15 points. The Muleriders have four players averaging double-digits in points: Jalen Brooks (11.6 ppg); DeVante Brooks (10.8 ppg); CJ Elkins (10.7 ppg); and Draylan Perkins (10.0 ppg). Jalen Brooks is coming off a road trip where he averaged 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals over two games. DeVante Brooks continues to be a force on the glass, averaging 8.2 rpg, as well as averaging 1.5 blocks per contest. DeVante also leads the team in minutes played this season (28.8 mpg).

Following this weekend, the Muleriders will take the short trip up to Monticello to take on Arkansas-Monticello before coming back home for a Saturday afternoon clash with the only team that's beaten them in GAC play this season, Harding, at the W. T. Watson Center.