MAGNOLIA, Ark. – There wasn't a bottle of Windex to be found on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center, but that didn't deter Southern Arkansas senior forward Devante Brooks. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native put on his own glass-cleaning demonstration as he seized 19 rebounds, the second-most in a single game in program history and four back of his program-record 23, to accompany a 21-point scoring effort. The Muleriders overcame a sluggish start to top a pesky Ouachita squad 71-67 in a Great American Conference contest that saw a dozen lead changes and 11 tied scores.
 
The win is the 12^th consecutive for Southern Arkansas over Ouachita in Magnolia.
 
The showcase inside by D. Brooks resulted in his 34^th career double-double; a mark that continues to increase as the best in GAC history. It was an efficient 21 points from the elder Brooks as he made eight of his ten attempts from the floor with five makes in six attempts from the free throw line. His board-grabbing prowess in Saturday's win, which moves the Muleriders to 6-3 on the season with a 2-1 mark in league play, included six offensive rebounds and 13 defensive boards as he accounted for exactly half of his team's rebounding output.
 
Seen picking up trash near the locker room postgame, the only thing Brooks didn't do in Saturday's win was make popcorn at halftime. He had a double-double logged by halftime, led the team in field goals made, free throws made, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and was one of three Muleriders to play 37 minutes in the win. He also added a block and an assist.
 
Ouachita turned 16 SAU turnovers into 28 points to lead the statistic and the Tigers also outscored the host in fast break points (20-14). D. Brooks' effort inside helped SAU even the paint battle as both teams scored 36 points down low.
 
However, it was a tale of two halves when it came to paint production on Saturday afternoon as Ouachita led SAU 20-8 in the metric in the first twenty minutes of play, before the Muleriders ramped up its production inside as tenth-year head coach Andy Sharpe's squad scored 28 paint points in the second half; a dozen more than the Tigers.
 
The Tigers led 33-30 at the intermission, but 41 second-half points aided Southern Arkansas, which shot 51.5% (17-of-33) from the floor in the final twenty minutes. SAU made nine more shots in nine more attempts than they did in the first half of play. Ouachita led by nine points at 25-16 with 7:15 to play before the break. The Muleriders responded by manufacturing a 13-4 run to knot the contest at 29 with two minutes remaining in the first half.  
 
OUA held a lead through the first seven minutes of the second half before a conversion by junior Ty Archibald on a hoop-and-harm play put Southern Arkansas up 45-43 at the 12:49 mark of the second half. The Tigers' final lead occurred with 10:50 remaining, but back-to-back three-point buckets in consecutive possessions from senior Aaron Lucas first tied the game at 50 and then placed the Muleriders out front at 53-50 with 10:05 to play.
 
Ninety seconds later, Lucas scored again as SAU moved ahead 57-52, which preceded six consecutive points by the Brooks Brothers as Devante scored inside, followed by a steal and transition slam from the uber-athletic Jalen Brooks and a near slam from Devante on an assist from junior Blake Rogers.
 
One last push from Dennis Nutt's Tigers resulted in a 65-65 tie at the 2:43 mark, but a responsive D. Brooks tipped in his own miss on the next trip down the floor to put the Muleriders up 67-65 heading into the final two minutes. Archibald delivered the final field goal as he tipped out and possessed a defensive rebound which led to a transition lay-in to put SAU up four; a lead preserved by Lucas at the charity stripe as he made two attempts with 15 seconds left to ensure the victory.
 
Rogers scored 18 points with seven makes from the floor and two from three-point range. He added two rebounds with a pair of assists and a steal. Lucas followed with 17 points, a team-high three trifectas with two steals, an assist and one rebound. Archibald led the team with three assists and followed D. Brooks' rebounding output with four boards. J. Brooks also delivered four rebounds.
 
The Muleriders hit the court again in a week as a Saturday afternoon contest at Arkansas Tech awaits SAU on December 18. Tipoff from inside Tucker Coliseum is slated for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.