MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Andy Sharpe's Muleriders did what they needed to do on Thursday evening inside the W.T. Watson Center as Southern Arkansas dismissed Arkansas Tech 76-63 to improve to 12-4 overall with an 11-4 mark in Great American Conference play. Junior guard Blake Rogers led an efficient night shooting by the Muleriders as he poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting with four makes from three-point range. The victory keeps Southern Arkansas even with league rival Arkansas-Monticello for the Eastern Division Championship which will be decided on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Muleriders led by five at the intermission after a first half of action that saw SAU edged in rebounding (16-15 ATU) and points in the paint (14-8 ATU). Southern Arkansas led by as much as ten points at 27-17 with 4:05 remaining, but the Wonder Boys managed to cut the deficit in half as they closed the final five minutes on a 10-4 run. Tech entered the contest with the third-most three-point makes and the third-best shooting percentage from behind the arc in the GAC, but took just five attempts in the opening twenty minutes.
 
Aiding the Muleriders in the first half were ten points off of turnovers, while Tech scored just four points off of nine SAU turnovers. Southern Arkansas added nine more points off of turnovers in the second half to just two for the Wonder Boys.
 
In the second half, Southern Arkansas evened the paint scoring as both teams finished with 24 points inside and flipped the rebounding edge as the Muleriders grabbed two more boards total (35-33).
 
SAU's second half lead grew to as much as nine points through the first ten minutes following the intermission and the Muleriders began to cruise following the under-8 media timeout.
 
Half of Rogers' aforementioned career-high 24 points came in the first half as he shot 4-of-7 from the floor with two trifectas. In the final twenty minutes, he added two more makes from deep and also finished with three assists, two steals and a rebound. His first second half three-pointer put SAU up nine with 12:28 to play, while his final three-pointer cushioned the Muleriders to a 60-50 advantage with 4:59 to play.
 
Senior guard Aaron Lucas scored 17 points and added three assists, a steal and a rebound, while senior forward Devante Brooks added 14 points with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Junior combo Jalen Brooks corralled 14 rebounds with nine points and three assists.
 
Southern Arkansas shot 44.8% from the floor and 38.5% from beyond-the-arc in the victory with a 70% success rate from the charity stripe. It is the third time this season that SAU has converted at least 38% of their attempts from range and at least 70% of their tries from the stripe.
 
Thursday night's win marked the 11^th time this season that the Muleriders have held their opposition under 70 points and the seventh time an opponent has failed to reach the 65-point mark.
 
Southern Arkansas closes out the regular season on Saturday against Harding. A Mulerider win coupled with an Arkansas-Monticello loss to Henderson State would secure SAU the Eastern Division title and the No. 1 seed. Additional scenarios can clinch the top seed for Southern Arkansas. Tip-off from inside the W.T. Watson Center is scheduled for 4 p.m. Prior to the afternoon start, seniors Trey Davis and Charlie Thomas will be honored. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.