DURANT, Okla. – They shot 'em and they knocked 'em down. Behind the second-most attempts from three-point range this season, (RV) Southern Arkansas hammered a season-high and program record-tying 16 trifectas with the biggest tickling the twine off the surefire trigger of senior guard Kris Wyche with 23 seconds remaining to give the Muleriders a late lead that they would not relinquish. A relentless second-half effort, marked by a game flow that featured four tied scores and 13 lead changes in the final twenty minutes, and a gritty 21-6 run in the first half to overcome an early 15-point deficit earned first-year head coach Logan Quinn's Muleriders a physical 87-84 statement road win over Southeastern Oklahoma State (14-7, 11-5 GAC) on Thursday night inside Bloomer Sullivan Arena in Durant.

The Muleriders (17-5, 13-3 GAC) put five players in double figures in the win with Wyche dropping 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting with six makes from three-point land in a team-high 34 minutes. Gregory Hammond Jr. and LaTreavin Black each registered double-doubles with the former going for 21 points, ten rebounds and three blocks, while the latter scored 16 points, grabbed a dozen boards and added two assists, one block and a steal. Hammond hit five triple tries, Blake Rogers followed with four as part of a 14-point night and Jerry Carraway Jr. added a make from deep to finish with a dozen points, a career-high eight assists and six rebounds.

After connecting on just five of their 17 attempts from three in the first half, the Muleriders sank 11 of 18 in the second half (61.1%). The 16 made shots from three-point range match the effort by the Muleriders done on two other occasions with the most recent coming against Southwestern Oklahoma State on February 2, 2017. The 16 successful triple tries are the most-ever on the road by a Southern Arkansas team. SAU finished +10 in rebounding, dished out the second-most assists in a game this season with 17 and the second-most blocks in a game with five. Additionally, SAU made nine of its 11 free throw opportunities.

Defensively, Southern Arkansas absorbed a 45% shooting night by the Savage Storm. SOSU made only seven three-point attempts on the night, including just three in the second half, while much of its damage offensively came in the paint. The Muleriders forced two off-centered looks from deep by SOSU in the host's final two attempts to try and tie the game in the final seconds.
As big as his three-point make with under thirty seconds to play was, Wyche's counted trifecta with 2:50 remaining in the game was just as big as he hit the attempt to put SAU up 80-79.

Following the intermission, SOSU's second half lead grew to seven at 48-41 off the glass of a Jett Sternberger lay-in at the 17:16 mark. Hammond Jr. knocked down a triple try to pull SAU to within four and spark an 11-4 run that would end with Hammond hitting another three to knot the contest at 52-all with 14 minutes to play. Within the run for the Muleriders was a made three-point make by Rogers and successful free throws from Black.

As the clock neared the 11:30 mark, Carel Ray Jr. came up with a steal which led to a fast break layup from Hammond Jr. to give Southern Arkansas its first lead of the night at 59-58. Over the next four and a half minutes, the lead for either team would become no more than two points as the sides traded scoring possessions.

The lead for SOSU would grow to five just under the seven-minute mark, but Wyche responded from deep to pull SAU to back within a possession of the lead. Two more times over the next three-plus minutes, the Savage Storm lead would grow to five, but each time Hammond answered: first with a tough bucket off glass and then by bottoming a trifecta which cut the SOSU lead to 79-77 and set the stage for Wyche's go-ahead triple try.

Prior to Wyche's second-to-last three of the game, Southern Arkansas employed two defensive stops on the same end of the floor before a Hammond rebound secured the possession for the Muleriders. The Savage Storm would use free throws following Wyche's make to retake the lead and the Muleriders would rely on the hard inside scoring efforts of Carraway Jr. and Black in the back-and-forth action late as both made buckets in the final two minutes with each make giving SAU a lead.

Southern Arkansas endured a sluggish start shooting 1-of-8 from the floor through the under-16 media timeout at the 15:18 mark of the first half. SOSU led by just four points at the first stoppage, but built the advantage to 12-3 just over a minute and a half later. A three-point make off the trigger of Wyche was the lone bucket for SAU over the next three minutes of action as the Savage Storm's lead grew to 21-6, its largest of the first half, with 10:08 remaining before the intermission.

But the Muleriders battled. A bucket by Hammond Jr. was sandwiched by four paint points from Black as part of quick 6-0 run by SAU that blossomed into 13-2 and brought the Muleriders to within four points of the SOSU lead at 23-19 with just under seven and half minutes left before the break. Black accounted for eight of the team's 13 points to significantly cut down the deficit.
SOSU's lead throughout the remainder of the first half would grow above two possessions on just one occasion as the Muleriders answered a bucket by the Savage Storm that ended the aforementioned +11 run by SAU with trifectas from Rogers and Hammond Jr. on consecutive possessions to pull to within two at 27-25 at the 4:20 mark.

At the 3:54 mark, Wyche hit a jumper to tie the game at 27 as the Muleriders engineered a run equivalent to the deficit they faced early on at 21-6. SOSU hammered a pair of threes in between a three-point make by Carraway Jr. The Savage Storm lead would grow to eight with under two minutes to play, before a pair of makes by Carraway Jr. at the stripe sent the Muleriders into the half down 40-33.

Southern Arkansas heads north to Ada for its final regular season game in Oklahoma. SAU will be tasked with looking for its first road victory over the Tigers since an 85-70 decision on November 19, 2015. The Muleriders topped East Central 74-65 on January 12 in Magnolia. Tip-off from inside Kerr Activities Center is set for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.