ADA, Okla. – Southern Arkansas received 18 points and six rebounds from DeVante Brooks and 14 points from Draylan Perkins, but it was not enough as the Muleriders dropped their third-consecutive contest with a 77-69 loss to East Central in a Great American Conference affair on Saturday afternoon from inside the Kerr Activities Center.
 
SAU (18-8, 13-7 GAC) slides into a three-way tie for third-place in the regular season standings with two games to go. The Muleriders' 13-7 record in league play matches Oklahoma Baptist and East Central.
 
Southern Arkansas turned the basketball over 17 times in the loss to just eight turnovers for the Tigers in a game that featured five lead changes and four tied scores with the last even score coming at 63 with 4:19 remaining in the game. From that moment, ECU used four-straight free throws and two layups as part of an 8-2 run that grew the lead to 71-65 in favor of the Tigers.
 
The next trip down the court for SAU resulted in Frank Royles knocking down a three-point attempt to pull the Muleriders to within three at 71-68 with 1:43 to play. However, ECU used a 6-1 run down the stretch to pull away for the win.
 
ECU won the scoring battle inside as they outscored the Muleriders 38-24 in the paint.
 
The Muleriders return home for the final weekend of play in the regular season. A lot is on the line in the final two games as nationally-prominent Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist come to Magnolia for Thursday-Saturday matchups that will decide SAU's seeding for the GAC Tournament in Bartlesville the following weekend. Tip times and live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.