BETHANY, Okla. – Oh that one felt like March. A quick glance at a calendar certainly informs one that the third month of the year is still a little less than two weeks away. But oh that one felt like March. Three big shots in the final two and a half minutes by Southern Arkansas and blanket defense from the Muleriders on the Southern Nazarene end of the court throughout the second half was the difference on Thursday night inside the Sawyer Center as SAU pushed past the Crimson Storm behind a relentless all-around effort in a 71-68 victory that punched the Muleriders' ticket to the Great American Conference Tournament.
 
Southern Arkansas (16-9, 12-7 GAC) has now won five straight games and has moved into a tie for fourth place in the league standings with Southern Nazarene with only three games remaining in the regular season. A lot is still left to be determined in terms of seeding and who will carry the regular season crown into postseason play. The Muleriders will make their 11^th trip to the GAC's postseason party; the lone men's program to reach the tournament every season since the conference was formed in 2011-12.
 
It happened when it needed to for the Muleriders on Thursday night. With 2:12 to play, senior forward Devante Brooks utilized the right hand on the near baseline to bottom a hook shot that put SAU on top of SNU 67-66. The ensuing trip down the floor, junior guard Ty Archibald employed an impressive front pocket defensive sequence that forced a missed jumper from the Crimson Storm's top scorer on the night in Tyler McGhie.
 
In SAU's following possession, it was Archibald again only this time to give the Muleriders the lead for good as he took the offering of a step back and pinned a twenty-footer in front of a reaching defender giving SAU a 69-66 lead with 76 seconds to play.
 
In the final minute, SNU pulled to within one, but Archibald responded for the final time driving just outside the box and popping a seventeen-footer that put SAU up 71-68 with 15 seconds to play. The contest, as hot as the action was in the final 15 minutes, was immediately put on ice as D. Brooks defended McGhie extremely well at the top of the key forcing the shooter to give away a look late that led to a front end miss by Xavier Bryant at the final horn.  
 
Southern Nazarene led for over 28 minutes of play and held its advantage through the 11:30 mark of the second half, but at the 11:29 mark things began to change as the game's three tied scores and three lead changes all took place following the under-12 media timeout of the second frame. Junior guard Kris Wyche knocked down a transition three-pointer on an assist from junior guard Dodge Brown that tied the game at 54. Just over a minute later and again trailing by a bucket, D. Brooks nailed a jumper to knot the action at 56.
 
At the 8:37 mark, as they had proven to do all night, the Muleriders answered the call once again. Down 58-56, junior combo Jalen Brooks put back an offensive rebound to even the affair at 58. Southern Nazarene's lead would get to four at 62-58 with just over 6:30 remaining, but a layup by D. Brooks on a helper from Archibald along with the and-1 brought SAU to within a point at 62-61.
 
SNU answered, but so did Archibald as he connected on a pair of free throws to again pull SAU to within a point at 64-63 at the 5:38 mark of the second half.
 
If you paid for a seat inside the Sawyer Center on Thursday night, chances are you could be eligible for a partial refund because most of those in attendance were only using the edge. D. Brooks gave SAU its first lead of the game with a midrange trigger that put the Muleriders up 65-64, but only for a moment as SNU answered with a jumper by McGhie, who delivered 25 points for the Crimson Storm in the loss, to give the host its last lead of the night.
 
Over 85 seconds were spent before the next bucket was netted but during that span Wyche pawed a driving layup by SNU's Manny Dixon to deny the Crimson Storm an opportunity to expand their advantage and with just over two minutes to play, the Muleriders put together the impressive aforementioned sequence.
 
The Muleriders were able to withstand a hot-shooting Crimson Storm team that nailed 63.6% (14-of-22) of its first half shot attempts with exactly half of that effort coming from beyond-the-arc (7-of-11) to only trail by seven points at the intermission. SAU made one less shot in five more attempts than SNU in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
Southern Nazarene held the lead for all but the first 18 seconds of the first half with its largest advantage of the opening twenty minutes coming late in the frame as it stood at nine, 40-31, with 1:12 to play. SAU kept the deficit within just three points on seven different possessions in the first half. The closest the Muleriders got was a single point when the score was drawn to 12-11 following an impressive hook shot by D. Brooks.
 
Before taking the lead for good in the second half, the Muleriders pulled to within at least three points of the SNU lead on six different occasions. SAU calmly erased an eight-point deficit with 15:05 left in the contest. After the previously mentioned success of the Crimson Storm shooting the three in the first half, the vaunted perimeter defense of the Muleriders showed up for the final twenty minutes as SNU made just two of its ten attempts in the half with both makes being bucketed in the first five minutes following the intermission.
 
SAU finished +10 in rebounding, shot over 50% from the floor including a 53.8% success rate in the second half and scored 14 second-chance points.
 
D. Brooks scored 26 points and added seven rebounds while netting all six free throw attempts. Senior guard Aaron Lucas followed with 19 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shooting with a 3-for-4 mark from three-point range. Archibald finished with eight points with his final four coming in a game-changing way to help seal the victory. J. Brooks collected eight rebounds with chipped in with seven points.

The win in Bethany is the first for Southern Arkansas since claiming a 75-68 contest against the Crimson Storm on January 9, 2016. 
 
The Muleriders prepare for another tough test as league-leading Oklahoma Baptist awaits on Saturday in Shawnee. Tip-off from inside the Noble Complex is scheduled for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.