BETHANY, Okla. – Southern Arkansas trailed by as much as 18 points in the first half, before cutting it down to five late in the opening twenty minutes, but (RV) Southern Nazarene was too much for the Muleriders coming out of the break as the Crimson Storm pulled away for a 77-53 Great American Conference win on Saturday afternoon inside the Sawyer Center. SAU drops to 14-5 overall and 10-3 in league play. SNU improves to 16-3 overall and has won six straight GAC games and 12 of 13.

It was a tale of two halves in the opening twenty minutes of action in the highly-anticipated affair. Southern Arkansas started off sluggishly on the offensive end of the floor, but its host felt right at home as the Crimson Storm jumped out to a 23-5 lead over the first 9:20 of game play. The Muleriders were just 2-of-11 from the floor during that span which included missing all four of its three-point attempts.

In nearly the same amount of time, Southern Arkansas managed to shake off the slow start and got into a rhythm on both ends of the floor. Blake Rogers hit SAU's first triple try of the afternoon at the 10:18 mark of the first half to trim the deficit to 15 at 23-8 and in the process sparked the Muleriders which used that trifecta as part of a 21-8 run over 9:15 that followed SNU's +18 advantage through the first nine and half minutes of action.

Rogers led the effort offensively with 11 points during that run and four other Muleriders scored at least a bucket which helped Southern Arkansas tighten the disadvantage to just five points at 31:26 with 66 seconds remaining before the intermission. SAU went 9-for-15 from the floor over that vital run and clamped down defensively to hold SNU to just a 2-for-7 effort from three-point range and a 3-for-12 overall shooting clip.

Rogers hammered home a pair of three-point shots in a run of just 42 seconds which followed a nice floater that rattled home off the driving touch of Jerry Caraway Jr. Brock Schreiner used 42 seconds of his own to sink a pair of shots from the left elbow on consecutive SAU possessions that cut the SNU lead to seven at 31-24. A layup by Carel Ray Jr. stamped the +13 run for SAU, but five points, a bucket and three free throws on a foul called on an attempt from range in the final seconds of the first half by Tyler McGhie, allowed the Crimson Storm to stymie the momentum of the visitors and cushion its lead to ten, 36-26, at the break.

Nine and half minute runs detail the box score as the Crimson Storm distanced itself from the Muleriders by engineering a 17-6 run over a period of 9:43 to start the second half. SNU shot over 50% from the floor during that time, while the Muleriders made just two of its ten attempts as the Crimson Storm led 53-32 following a Nick Davis layup with 9:42 to play.

Southern Nazarene's largest lead would grow to 29 with 2:22 remaining, before nestling at 24 at the final horn. The Crimson Storm shot 53.2% from the floor for the game and 45% from three-point range, while missing just four of its 22 attempts from the stripe. SNU finished +12 in both rebounding and points in the paint. SAU shot 35.3% from the floor and made just five of its 17 three-point attempts in the loss. The host outscored SAU 20-7 in second-chance points including a 13-4 effort in the second half.

Rogers scored 16 points with two rebounds and a steal. LaTreavin Black added 11 points with four rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal. Jessie Davis Jr. led in rebounding with five.

The Muleriders return home to the W.T. Watson Center where it will play six of its final nine regular season games. SAU will host Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. The Muleriders topped the Bulldogs 85-80 on January 7 in Weatherford. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.