WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Neither of two serviceable looks from beyond-the-arc, one from the top-of-the-key trigger of junior guard Victor Irhirhi and the second from senior guard Aaron Lucas on the right wing following an offensive board, in the final twenty seconds of Thursday night's Great American Conference clash between visiting Southern Arkansas and host Southwestern Oklahoma State would fall for the Muleriders as SWOSU hung on for a 70-67 win inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
 
Southern Arkansas (10-7, 6-5 GAC) connected on ten three-point attempts in the loss with six coming in the second half and all but one dropping in during the final eight minutes of the contest. The Muleriders finished 10-for-31 from beyond-the-arc on the night and held the Bulldogs to just seven three-point makes in 19 attempts.
 
Trialing by six at 55-49, sophomore guard Connor Harvey knocked down the first of two second-half trifectas within a forty second span just prior to the under-8 media while his second connection knotted the game at 55 with 7:17 remaining. With just under six minutes to play, Irhirhi hit a three-point attempt which put Southern Arkansas up 58-57, but the Bulldogs would thwart the Muleriders down the stretch to build its advantage to eight points at 69-61 at the 2:46 mark of the second half.
 
In the final 90 seconds of action, junior guard Blake Rogers nailed a three to cut the deficit to 69-64 and 45 seconds later, within the final minute of action, Irhirhi drilled an attempt from range that brought SAU to within a bucket of the SWOSU lead at 69-67. However, Southwestern Oklahoma would be unable to put the Muleriders away as they converted just one of the four three throw attempts that ensued to leave the door cracked for the aforementioned shots that just missed in an effort to tie the game in the waning seconds.
 
The contest saw six lead changes and five tied scores, 24 paint points produced by each squad and SWOSU capitalize slightly more in the points off of turnovers department scoring 18 on 15 SAU turnovers to just 13 points for the Muleriders as a result of 16 turnovers by the host.
 
Lucas led SAU with 18 points and chipped in with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Harvey netted a career-high dozen all courtesy of three-point attempts (career-best effort of 4-for-5 from deep) and added two rebounds, two steals and a helper. Junior combo Jalen Brooks nearly recorded a double double as he finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
 
The Muleriders head north for Alva to cap the longest conference trek of the season as a Saturday afternoon meeting with Northwestern Oklahoma State is set for a 3 p.m. tipoff inside Percefull Fieldhouse. Southern Arkansas topped the Rangers 69-49 on December 30 in Magnolia. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.