SEARCY, Ark. – Senior forward Devante Brooks delivered the 32^nd double-double effort of his career with 21 points and ten rebounds, three more Muleriders joined the Shreveport native with double-figure scoring, and Southern Arkansas dominated in the paint (48-28) and on the offensive glass (21-11) to defeat Harding 80-62 in a physical Great American Conference opener on Thursday night from inside Rhodes Reaves Fieldhouse.
 
The Muleriders (5-2) pick up their fifth-consecutive victory, seventh-straight against the Bisons and fourth in-a-row on the road in Searcy. SAU improves to 6-5 all-time in GAC openers. Since starting the season 0-2, tenth-year head coach Andy Sharpe's bunch is averaging 90.6 points per game and holding its opposition to just 59.2 points per game.
 
Southern Arkansas grabbed the game's first lead as senior point guard Aaron Lucas converted a transition opportunity inside and off the glass just over two minutes into the contest. Harding took its first and only lead at the 15:03 mark of the first half as the Bisons' leading scorer on the night, Taylor Currie, knocked down a three-point shot putting HU up 9-7.
 
That trifecta would be one of only six successful makes in 21 attempts for Harding as the GAC's top field goal percentage defense and third-best three-point percentage defense in Southern Arkansas clamped down in the first half.
 
Junior guard Blake Rogers scored off of a miss by Brooks to tie the game at nine points with just over seven and a half minutes expired. That sparked a 26-9 run by Southern Arkansas that was capped off by junior guard Tyler Garrett netting a transition three, on a helper from junior guard Ty Archibald, to place SAU out front by 15 at 33-18 at the 2:59 mark of the opening half. Six different players scored for the Muleriders during that run.
 
SAU carried a 37-25 lead into the intermission and the closest the Bisons would cut into the deficit would be at six points as Currie hit a three pointer with 11:55 remaining to pull HU to within two possessions at 51-45. Over the next six minutes following Currie's make from distance, the Muleriders engineered a 15-5 run to go up 66-50 with 5:40 to play. The lead grew to its largest of the night at 20 points in the final minute before nestling at 18.
 
The Muleriders outscored Harding in second-chance points (20-3), points off of turnovers (22-8) and in transition (16-4) to go along with the aforementioned effort in the paint (48-28), while outrebounding the host 44-34. The league's leader in turnover margin at +7.2, SAU posted a +11 result in the statistic on Thursday night, while forcing nearly four more turnovers than their nightly average of 18.6 entering the league affair.
 
SAU attempted 23 more shots than the Bisons in the victory. Southern Arkansas shot 43.2% from the floor and grabbed a season-high 21 offensive rebounds.
 
Brooks finished 9-of-16 from the field and added two assists and a block to his stat ledger. Lucas followed with 18 points, collected five of the team's seven steals to go with four rebounds and an assist. Rogers scored 14 points and was one of three Muleriders with two three-point makes joining Lucas and Archibald. Rogers grabbed five rebounds and recorded three of the team's 11 assists. Junior combo Jalen Brooks dropped in 13 points with four rebounds and Archibald recovered seven rebounds.
 
The Muleriders face a quick turnaround as a meeting with Henderson State looms on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center. The series with HSU since Sharpe took over in 2012-13 has been a tight one. SAU holds an 11-10 advantage after winning all three meetings a season ago. At home during that span, the Muleriders are 7-2 against the Reddies. In GAC home openers, Southern Arkansas is 5-4 under Sharpe and 6-4 overall. Tip-off for the GAC clash is set for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.