MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Men's Basketball season continues this weekend as the team treks to Springfield, Missouri, for a pair of games against Drury and Missouri S&T as part of the Drury Thanksgiving Classic. The Muleriders meet the host on Black Friday in a 3:15 p.m. tip-off and will matchup with the Miners of UMST at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
This weekend's games mark the two of the final three games in what has been one of the toughest nonconference schedules for the Mulerider Men in recent memory. Southern Arkansas is coming off a convincing 72-53 win over Harding on November 23 and will enter the action at 2-3 overall with a 1-1 mark in Great American Conference play.
 
Through five games, the Muleriders are scoring at a clip of 63.8 points per game, but own the league's top scoring defense at 64.8 points per game. Additionally, the Muleriders have held their two league opponents this season to just 60 points or less which is only the second time SAU has done that in back-to-back league games under eighth-year head coach Andy Sharpe and the first time since November of the 2016-17 season.
 
The Muleriders' scoring defense currently ranks 30^th in Division II which comes in large part to the team's ability to guard the perimeter early on as opponents manage just a 30.4% success rate from beyond-the-arc which is a league-best mark. SAU's overall field goal defense stands at 40.3%, second-best in the GAC, with all five of the Muleriders' opponents combining to make just 112 shots this season.
 
On the glass this season, SAU has been extremely active as they ranks third in rebounding offense at 38.0 per game, which ranks third in the GAC, while the team's +5 rebounding margin ranks fourth. The Muleriders are grabbing 13.8 rebounds on the offensive end of the floor; the second-best effort in the conference and 32^nd best result in the country, and are likely to grab an offensive rebound nearly 38% of the time following a missed shot.  
 
SAU has totaled 69 offensive rebounds this season with brothers Devante and Jalen Brooks combining for over half of those with 38 rebounds. Junior Devante Brooks has grabbed a league-best 25 offensive rebounds and with 19 boards on the defensive end he ranks second in the GAC at 8.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jalen Brooks follows with 43 total rebounds (13o, 30d) which ranks third in the league at 8.6 rebounds per game. His 30 boards on the defensive glass are the third-most in the league.
 
D. Brooks is the team's leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, which ranks 15^th in the GAC, and comes as a result of the league's 14^th-highest shooting clip at 51.7%. Junior Aaron Lucas scores at a per-game clip of 11.2 points per game and is 11^th in the GAC in assists at 3.0 per game. From the line, Lucas owns a team-best and the league's sixth-highest clip at 88% (22-of-25).
 
Drury enters the weekend unbeaten at 3-0 with wins over Lake Superior State (W, 89-73) and Trevecca Nazarene (W, 88-67) and Harris-Stowe State (W, 94-87). The Panthers are led by four scorers that average double figures and as a team they are scoring a clip of 90.3 points per game at 50.5% shooting.

Missouri S&T is 1-2 and will face Rogers State before Saturday's game with the Muleriders. Missouri S&T's lone win this season is a 77-59 decision over Lindenwood-Belleville. Most recently, the Miners were defeated by Southeast Missouri State 72-71. An 11-point loss to Lincoln and a two-point defeat to Missouri Western in overtime. The Miners score at a clip of 65.3 points per game with a +1.7 scoring margin and average over 40.7 rebounds per contest.