MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Junior guard
Aaron Lucas delivered 18 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double effort, Southern Arkansas clamped down the league's second-highest scoring offense, and the Muleriders snapped a four-game losing skid with a 72-63 victory over Great American Conference foe Arkansas-Monticello on Rivalry Thursday inside a raucous W.T. Watson Center. The victory is the 16
th-consecutive for SAU over in-state GAC competition.
Defensively, the Muleriders (6-9, 3-6 GAC) held UAM's high-scoring offense, which entered averaging over 90 points per game, to its season-low scoring output of just 63 points. On Thursday night, it was the league's second-best three-point percentage defense of the Muleriders (31.1%) that got the best of the league's second-best three-point percentage of the Weevils (39.2%). Southern Arkansas held UAM to just a 15.8% success rate from beyond-the-arc as the visitors made just three of their 19 attempts from range.
The lead changed hands only four times in the contest with the Muleriders controlling the advantage for over 37 minutes of game time. The largest lead for Southern Arkansas came with 5:30 to play as the Muleriders led by 13 points at 59-46.
In the final six minutes of the game, the Muleriders converted 9-of-17 from the charity stripe after only attempting five shots in the game's first 34 minutes. That effort helped SAU stave off any late potential comeback effort as the Weevils only managed to get to within nine points of the lead during that time period. Junior forward
Devante Brooks made his last five attempts from the line which all came within the final 2:15 of action.
D. Brooks finished with 13 points and ten rebounds; his fifth double-double of the season. Sophomore combo
Jalen Brooks added 13 points as well with three rebounds. Junior guard
Gabe Gilliam also went for 13 points as he knocked down three trifectas, while freshman
Jessie Davis Jr. delivered eight points and five rebounds.
Southern Arkansas returns to action on Saturday in Searcy as the Muleriders take on Harding (6-9, 1-8 GAC) inside Rhodes Reaves Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. Live coverage links will be made available at
www.MuleriderAthletics.com.