MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The final home games of the 2019-20 regular season are on tap this weekend inside the W.T. Watson Center as Southern Arkansas plays host to two of the Great American Conference's top teams in #23 Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central. Tip-off with the Savage Storm on Thursday's Community Night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's clash with East Central is slated for a 3 p.m. start. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

SETTING THE WEEKEND SLATE
*Southern Arkansas enters the final half month of the 2019-20 regular season in a position to earn the program's ninth-consecutive postseason berth, but it won't come easy for Andy Sharpe's Muleriders with four games remaining before the madness of March begins.
*The Muleriders are currently 11-13 overall with an 8-10 mark in Great American Conference. That league record puts SAU in a three-way tie for seventh place with Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma. Southern Arkansas split with the Wonder Boys and Bulldogs this season.
*On Thursday night, SAU plays host to nationally-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. from inside the W.T. Watson Center. The Savage Storm are tied atop the GAC standings with Southern Nazarene at 13-5 with an overall record of 19-6. SOSU has clinched a tournament berth.
*Two days later, the Muleriders tangle with the Tigers of East Central in the regular season home finale scheduled for a 3 p.m. tip-off. ECU is currently two games up on SAU and tied with Arkansas-Monticello for fifth place in the league standings with a conference record of 10-8.

DOWN THE STRETCH
*The Muleriders own six top 30 statistical marks in Division II. SAU's 14.25 offensive rebounds per game leads the GAC and ranks ninth nationally. SAU's 603 free throw attempts ranks 15th nationally, while the team's lock-down perimeter defense ranks 16th in Division II as opponents have been successful on just 31.3% of their three-point shots against the Muleriders this season. With that success comes the nation's 24th-best scoring defense at 67.4 ppg and in addition to the success on the offensive glass, the Muleriders average the 25th-most rebounds per game (39.79) and hold the 26th-best rebound margin in the country at +6.1.
*Junior forward Devante Brooks has dominated the glass this season. He currently ranks tenth in Division II in offensive rebounds per game and his 203 rebounds this season rank 53rd in the country. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native averages 8.5 boards per game. He has led the team in scoring eight times and in rebounding a dozen times, and has notched seven double doubles
*Junior guard Aaron Lucas leads the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg, while sophomore combo Jalen Brooks averages 13.8 ppg which is just ahead of Devante's 13.1 ppg. All three of those scoring averages rank in the top 20 league-wide and the Muleriders are one of just three teams with three scorers ranked in the top 20 of the GAC.
*The Brooks Brothers combine to average 6.4 offensive rebounds per game which is more than the average of four Division II teams: Trevecca Nazarene (5.84), Dallas Baptist (6.13), Hawaii Hilo (6.17) and Sonoma State (6.25).
*Lucas is one of five players in the GAC to rank in the top 10 in both assists (8th | 3.8) and steals (10th | 1.6). He holds an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.1.

MULERIDERS BY THE NUMBERS
5 - The Muleriders have had a ton of success at home over the past three seasons posting a 31-8 mark when playing inside the W.T. Watson Center dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign. This season, the Muleriders are 8-3 at home with six of those wins coming against league opponents. Since joining the conference in 2011-12, SAU has posted five 10-win seasons inside the W.T. Watson Center.

156 - With their prowess evident on the offensive glass, the Brooks Brothers have combined for 156 offensive rebounds this season. That current total is more than the offensive team total of five Division II programs and Division I programs Wyoming and Niagara this season. Last season, the brothers combined for 143 offensive rebounds. Their current pace puts them at a combined 182 offensive boards with 4 regular season games remaining. As a team, the Muleriders rank 9th nationally in offensive rebounds at 14.23 per game; the best mark in the GAC.

16.4 - In nine GAC home games this season, SAU holds a plus margin of 16.4. In scoring, the Muleriders are currently at +8.2 and in rebounding, SAU stands at +6 on the boards. Southern Arkansas has also taken care of their possessions as they sit at +2.2 in turnover margin. 

SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
*The Savage Storm enter its second matchup with the Muleriders ranked No. 23 in the country by D2SIDA and at No. 2 in the first Central Region rankings of the season. Southeastern Oklahoma topped the Muleriders 77-55 in Durant. Since 2011-12, the Muleriders hold a slim 9-8 series advantage over the Savage Storm. SAU is 5-3 against SOSU in Magnolia during that time.
*Of the team's six losses this season, the last five have come at four points or less with four of the losses coming on the road. 
*The Savage Storm enter the weekend averaging 82.5 ppg, while allowing just 70.4 ppg to opponents. 
*SOSU ranks in the top 25 nationally in eight statistical categories including top ten marks in fewest fouls per game (3rd | 12.8), fewest fouls (6th | 320), and assist-to-turnover ratio (7th | 1.58).
*The team's leading scorer is Kevin Buckingham at 21.2 ppg; the 34th-highest scoring mark in the country. He also ranks 28th nationally in field-goal percentage (58.0%), and tenth in Division II in total field goals made (213).
*Adam Dworsky leads the country in assists per game (8.8) and total assists (221), ranks 11th in Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.25), and holds top 15 marks in total minutes (13th | 936:31) minutes per game (14th | 37:27).
*Kayo Goncalves ranks fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (48.8%) and 27th in total rebounds (224).

SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
*East Central got the better of Southern Arkansas in the teams' first meeting on January 9 with the Tigers edging the Muleriders 64-60 in Ada. Saturday's regular season home finale for the Muleriders will be the 18th meeting between the two schools since the 2011-12 season. ECU holds a 10-7 lead in the series, but SAU has won five of the eight battles inside the W.T. Watson Center.
*ECU carries the league's top scoring offense across state lines as the squad is averaging 87.3 ppg; the 18th-highest team scoring clip in Division II.
*East Central allows opponents to score at a clip of 82.1 ppg; the second-most in the GAC which ranks 264th nationally. 
*The Tigers hold top 20 Division II statistical marks in defensive rebounds per game (14th | 28.79), free throws made (15th | 443), free throw attempts (16th | 602), and scoring offense. The team's 73.6% free throw percentage ranks fourth in the GAC.
*Camron Talley ranks fifth in Division II in three-point field goals per game at 3.78. His 22.8 ppg ranks 17th nationally and is second in the GAC. 
*Jalen Brown leads the GAC in field goal percentage at 74.5% and ranks 13th in rebounding averaging 6.5 boards per game, while teammate Josh Apple leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 rebounds per game.