MAGNOLIA, Ark. (Panther Arena) - High quality basketball was played on Thursday night inside Panther Arena. Southern Arkansas played host to Great American Conference-leading #14 Southern Nazarene in a neutral site affair from inside Magnolia High School's Panther Arena. In the end, it was an 18-5 run by the visitors midway through the second half that staked the Crimson Storm to a 57-40 lead with 7:50 to play and a regular season league title.

The Muleriders (17-8, 13-6 GAC) hold onto the No. 2 spot in the league standings by a single game with three games remaining in the regular season. Gregory Hammond Jr. led SAU with 17 points which included three three-point field goals. He added four rebounds, two steals, an assist and one block. LaTreavin Black dropped a dozen points and picked up 13 rebounds to go along with four assists, two blocks and a steal. Carel Ray Jr. followed with ten points, four rebounds, one assist and a steal.

SAU shot just under 40% from the floor for the game, but nearly sank 43% of its attempts from deep. The Muleriders converted just six of the 13 shots it attempted from the stripe. SAU took advantage of turnovers as it finished +10 in such scoring.

In the final minute, an emphatic, rim-rocking finish with two hands by Hammond Jr. and a smooth split between two defenders with the shot clock and game clock expiring on the first half by SNU's Mo Wilson II capped a well-played opening twenty minutes by both teams as the Crimson Storm carried a 32-26 lead into the intermission.

With the top 15 Crimson Storm in town, the matchup called for fast action early as both teams managed to get up and down the court cleanly through the first media timeout of the half. Black delivered five big first half points and six even bigger rebounds with two of his points coming in a tough put back effort off of a three-point miss by SAU moments following the game's first media. With 13:48 to play, Hammond Jr. hammered a triple try from the left wing to put SAU up 11-10. By the 12:00 minute media timeout which cued at 11:59, the lead had changed six times with SNU up 13-11.

The Muleriders matched and at times dictated the intensity inside with a tough effort down low and in cutting to the basket which was the case with Ray Jr. who laid an assisted ball by Carrarway Jr. off glass to tie the game at 13. Moments after Blake Rogers scored inside to make it 17-15 SNU, Kris Wyche nailed a triple try to pull within four points of an ever-changing advantage by the visitors and Ray then followed with a trifecta from the left wing on an assist by Brock Schreiner that pulled SAU to within 24-21 at the 4:52 mark of the first half.

Through the final media of the opening half, the Muleriders turned five SNU turnovers into nine points and did not allow the Crimson Storm to benefit off of six turnovers on the SAU offensive end. SNU shot 48% from the floor in the first sinking four of its ten attempts from deep. SAU made half of its ten attempts from deep in the opening half behind an overall shooting clip or 41.7%. Each of the five trifectas seemed bigger than the previous and kept the Muleriders in striking distance entering the intermission.

The second half opened as eventful as the first ended. Black shoved a shot to the next county and Rogers put it on spin cycle for a bucket off glass on SAU's next trip down the floor as two free throws prior to the Black swatting helped the Muleriders cut the deficit to four at 34-30. Black added another huge "no thank you" as he stuffed a shot which led to a Hammond Jr. three on a helper from Schreiner which gave SAU a 35-34 lead. That would stand as the last lead of the game for the Muleriders but that was not the last bit of fight left from the host.

Hammond slammed home fastbreak at the 12:34 mark to pull SAU to within six points. The aforementioned +13 run helped SNU lead by 17 points at 57-40 with 7:50 remaining in the game. During that nearly 7:30 run, the Crimson Storm shot 7-of-15, while SAU managed half as many shots with just two makes to go along with five turnovers.

Black momentarily ended the run with a corner three at the 7:38 mark and sandwiched a jumper by Hammont Jr. with an inside basket that pulled SAU to within 14 with just under six minutes left. Five straight points from Ray Jr., two free throws and a three-point bucket, over the final 90 seconds brought SAU to within seven points at 64-57 with 66 seconds to play. SNU would push the lead back to nine with free throws and it would hold as the Muleriders dropped its third straight game.

Southern Arkansas returns to the W.T. Watson Center for a Saturday afternoon tip-off against Oklahoma Baptist. Start time is slated for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.