MAGNOLIA, Ark. – In a Monday night contest between bitter longtime rivals that featured 13 lead changes and five tied scores, it was Arkansas-Monticello that pulled past Southern Arkansas in the final five minutes of the game to claim a 78-69 victory inside the W.T. Watson Center and retake the lead in the Great American Conference's Eastern Division. The Muleriders held a 33-31 lead at the intermission after a first half that included ten of the 13 aforementioned lead changes and held that advantage for the first 15:09 of the second half before UAM claimed its first lead which quickly blossomed into a nine-point deficit for SAU with sixty seconds to play.
 
Fans of back-and-forth, high intensity basketball would have been pleased for 37 minutes of play. In addition to the 20-11 run that UAM engineered to close out the contest, the game saw a 12-4 run from Southern Arkansas to start the game which was highlighted by junior guard Blake Rogers accounting for the entire dozen which included consecutive three-point makes that forced a UAM timeout.
 
Out of the thirty second break with 14:20 to play in the opening half, UAM put together a 12-0 run to take a 16-12 lead and from that point on the game's margin would not become greater than four points until an Aaron Lucas trifecta forty seconds into the second half.
 
The Muleriders would lead by five points on six different occasions and hold a six-point lead as well, but the Weevils managed to hang around. After a Lemmie Howard step-back jumper with 4:36 to play that gave UAM a 59-58 lead, the Weevils answered an inside drive by Lucas with consecutive trifectas that built a five-point advantage at the 3:29 mark.
 
SAU would cut it to four on one make of two free throw attempts from senior forward Devante Brooks and that would be as close as the Muleriders would get as the late surge by the Weevils earned the team win number nine and the division lead.
 
Lucas led SAU with 15 points and seven assists to go along with three steals in 40 minutes of play. Rogers followed with his twelve early points and junior combo Jalen Brooks added ten rebounds to three steals, three blocks, four assists and four points.
 
The Muleriders return to action on Thursday at Harding. The Muleriders claimed the first meeting of the season with a convincing 81-53 win on January 16 in Searcy. The second matchup, which was scheduled for January 28 in Magnolia, was cancelled due to COVID-19 protocol. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.