MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Junior forward Devante Brooks dropped 22 of his 24 points in the second half, including the team's final eight points, of Saturday afternoon's Great American Conference affair with Harding inside the W.T. Watson Center. The Muleriders broke a 27-27 tie at the intermission with a dominant showing inside in the final 20 minutes of action to win 72-53 and even their league record at 1-1. SAU outscored their opposition 26-8 in the paint in the second half with Brooks shooting 77% (10-of-13) from the floor in the period.
 
Southern Arkansas (2-3, 1-1 GAC) has now won four-consecutive games against the Bisons at home and are now 25-5 in their last 30 games inside the W.T. Watson Center dating back to the start of the 2017-18 season. Since the start of last season, the Muleriders own a 15-1 mark in Magnolia. SAU will close out 2019 with back-to-back home games beginning with Arkansas Tech in a GAC matchup on December 14 and Williams Baptist on December 21.
 
In the victory, Brooks absolutely took over coming out of halftime. In the first half, Brooks finished with as many fouls as he did points after connecting on his only shot attempt inside in the opening 20 minutes. After the break, he delivered an aforementioned 22 points on an efficient shooting clip to match his career-high in scoring with 24 points which he previously notched as a freshman on February 22, 2018 at home against Henderson State. It is just the fourth 20-point game for the Shreveport, Louisiana, native in his career.
 
Southern Arkansas opened the second half on a 22-7 run through the first ten minutes as a layup from Brooks with 10:31 to play put the Muleriders up 15 points at 49-34. The lead would grow to 17 moments later as junior guard Gabe Gilliam connected on two free throws before sophomore combo Jalen Brooks scored inside on an assist by Gilliam.
 
The Bisons would not be able to get the deficit under ten points for the remainder of the game as Southern Arkansas did not let up offensively scoring 45 second half points; tied for the most in any half for the Muleriders this season.
 
With under a minute to play in the game, Brooks put the finishing touches on an impressive performance as he backed down a defender along the far baseline and used a smooth touch on a right-handed hook shot that floated in for the final bucket in the Muleriders' win.
 
J. Brooks scored nine points and led the team with a dozen rebounds, while junior guard Aaron Lucas followed the elder Brooks in scoring with 11 points and he added six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Redshirt junior Charlie Thomas added nine points and six boards with three steals, two blocks, and two steals.
 
By holding the Bisons to 53 points coupled with limiting Henderson State to 58 points on Thursday, it marks the first time the Muleriders have held consecutive GAC opponents to 60 or fewer points in back-to-back games since wins over East Central (W, 64-60) and Southeastern Oklahoma (W, 67-49) on November 17 and 19 of the 2016-17 season.
 
The Muleriders will now turn their attention to the Drury Thanksgiving Classic in Springfield, Missouri, on November 29 and 30. Southern Arkansas plays host Drury on Friday at 3:15 p.m. and meets Missouri S&T on Saturday at 1 p.m. Live coverage links will be made available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.