SHAWNEE, Okla. – If you thought an Andy Sharpe-led squad would roll over, down 26 at the intermission of Saturday's Great American Conference semifinal matchup with (7) Southwestern Oklahoma State, then you don't know Mulerider Basketball. In what will go down as one of the grittiest second-half efforts by Southern Arkansas in recent memory, the Muleriders employed a rally over the final twenty minutes that saw the six seed outscore SWOSU 38-21 in the frame and hold the Bulldogs to a 27% success rate from the floor. In the end, the halftime deficit was too much as the comeback effort pushed SAU to within seven points of the lead, but fell just short in a 71-62 defeat from inside Shawnee's FireLake Arena.
With a berth in the tournament title game on the line, the action on the hardwood can best be described as a tale of two halves for both programs.
The Muleriders (18-12) quickly ignited its comeback early in the second half erasing eight points off of its deficit as an 8-0 run to start the final twenty minutes forced SWOSU into a timeout at the 16:58 mark. Highlighting that run and starting the tenacious effort was an and-1 from senior forward Devante Brooks for the first points of the half, two steals by the Muleriders, four points from senior combo Jalen Brooks and a midrange jumper by junior guard Kris Wyche who logged 24 tough minutes in the loss.
SAU connected on five three-point shots in the second half with the first coming from the trigger of junior guard Blake Rogers to pull SAU to within 15 points of the SWOSU lead at 51-36 with 16:11 to play. Over the next three minutes, SAU continued its gritty performance forcing the Bulldogs into a trio of shot clock violations, in addition to J. Brooks hammering a corner three and D. Brooks converting his second and-1 attempt which brought SAU's deficit under ten points at 51-42 with just over 13 minutes to play.
Through the first 11:11 of the second half, SWOSU, which erupted for 50 first half points, managed just two points; single free throws that came 5:50 from one another. The Muleriders exploded on a 20-2 run to start the second half prior to SWOSU's first field goal.
The Bulldogs would manage to build their lead back to a dozen, but two free throws from D. Brooks and his third and-1 of the half brought the Muleriders back down to seven at 56-49 with 5:48 to play.
The magic that is March would run out for SAU late down the stretch as SWOSU nailed three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to keep the Muleriders off the lead by double figures.
In the second half, Southern Arkansas 41.2% from the floor and for the the game shot 89.5% from the stripe missing only twice in 19 opportunities which kept SAU in the ballgame after a tough shooting first half of play.
Conversely, the Muleriders' defense came alive in the second half forcing eight SWOSU misses from deep.
Southern Arkansas did not lead in a first half that saw the action tied for only 1:23. Southwestern Oklahoma opened the contest on an 11-0 run, its largest of the half, and that set the table for the Bulldogs who used quality ball movement (9 first half assists), controlled the glass (20-17) and dropped in ten additional points off of turnovers in addition to nearly shooting the lights out of FireLake Arena in the opening half.
SAU trailed by 20 at the under-8 media timeout with 7:10 remaining in the first half. To that point, the Muleriders struggled mightily from the floor connecting on just three of its first 21 shot attempts with zero makes from beyond-the-arc in nine tries as SWOSU led 31-11. For the half, the Bulldogs shot 61.3% from the floor and unfortunately was slightly better from three-point range knocking in eight of its 13 triggers from deep.
The Muleriders connected twice from beyond-the-arc before the intermission as senior combo Jalen Brooks dropped in both; the first from the left wing and the second from the right corner.
In what was the last game in the Mulerider Blue and Gold for seniors Devante Brooks, Jalen Brooks and Aaron Lucas, the trio combined for 48 of the squad's 62 points. A day after setting the GAC Tournament single-game rebounding record with 20, J. Brooks added 11 more to go along with 20 points, one block and a steal in a 37-minute double double effort. For the 49th and final time in his collegiate career, D. Brooks finished in double figures in both points and rebounds as he dropped 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to add to six blocks, two steals and an assist in a team-high 38 minutes. Lucas added 11 points, six rebounds three steals, two assists and two blocks.
