MAGNOLIA, Ark. - With the welcoming of March comes the inevitable madness and with the calendar's spotlight fully shining on its third month, it's time to dance. (2) Southern Arkansas Men's Basketball heads back to the Great American Conference Tournament for a league-record 12th time and awaiting first-year head coach Logan Quinn's Muleriders in Thursday afternoon's opening round is (7) Oklahoma Baptist. Tip-off from inside Shawnee, Oklahoma's FireLake Arena is set for 2:15 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

Previous Meetings
1/26 | Southern Arkansas 88, Oklahoma Baptist 83 | Box Score
2/18 | Oklahoma Baptist 76, Southern Arkansas 74 | Box Score

The Muleriders (19-9, 15-7 GAC) and the Bison (13-15, 10-12 GAC) meet for the third time this season. In its first two games against OBU, Southern Arkansas shot 50.4% (58-115) from the floor overall with a 43% success rate from deep (22-51). SAU posted +7 in rebounding average. The two contests were decided by an average of 3.5 points. OBU committed six less turnovers than the Muleriders in their two meetings. SAU made five more free throws in three more attempts than the Bison in 80 minutes of play.

In the first meeting in Shawnee, Southern Arkansas built a 13-point lead at the intermission and used key free throws down the stretch and five players in double-figure scoring led by Carel Ray Jr.'s 16 points to hold off a surging effort by the Bison late to win by five. Southern Arkansas led by 15 points on three different occasions through the first nine and a half minutes of the second half. Following the under-8 media timeout, the Bison managed to pull within six points of the Mulerider lead seven different times which included cutting the lead to five or less twice in the final minute.

In Magnolia, the action picked up following the second half's under-8 media timeout as prior to the stoppage the Bison erased an eight-point deficit to set the stage for an entertaining final eight minutes. The lead changed seven times and the score was tied on three occasions. Late dunks by Ray Jr. (4:28) and Gregory Hammond Jr. (1:57) energized the Watson Center and more importantly put Southern Arkansas out front with the latest slam giving the Muleriders a 71-70 lead. After a big Hammond Jr. triple try, the Muleriders forced a stop defensively and had an opportunity at the stripe to grab the lead with under 30 seconds left but were unable to do so. That would sting a little more at the final horn as Oklahoma Baptist used a DJ Freeman tip-in with 0.1 seconds to play to squeeze by the Muleriders 76-74.

Ray Jr. averaged a team-leading 16.5 ppg behind a 61.1% shooting clip. All-GAC honorable mention LaTreavin Black averaged 12.5 ppg and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game. All-GAC first team performer and league Newcomer of the Year Gregory Hammond Jr. averaged 14.5 ppg with 7.5 rebounds. Kris Wyche scored at a clip of 12 ppg behind six made threes (54.5%) which trails Ray Jr.'s seven at a rate of 63.6%.

Oklahoma Baptist's leading scorer in the two games was Paul King who averaged 22.0 ppg against the Muleriders in the regular season. King reportedly is no longer on the team entering postseason play. King took 45 shots in two games. No other Bison attempted more than 16. Nigel Wilcox followed in scoring with 12 ppg and Ricky Brown added 11.5 ppg. Trey Green was the top rebounder averaging nine boards per contest. Ethan Scott (6) and Brown (4) were the lone Bison to make four or more triple tries in the two matchups.

SAU in the GAC Tournament (12th appearance; 5-11)
2021-22 | L, 62-71 vs. (7) Southwestern Oklahoma
2021-22 | W, 72-63 vs. (3) Northwestern Oklahoma
2020-21 | L, 74-75 at (E1) Arkansas-Monticello
2020-21 | W, 74-71 at (W1) Oklahoma Baptist
2020-21 | W, 82-74 vs. (W3) East Central
2019-20 | L, 69-83 vs. (2) Southeastern Oklahoma
2018-19 | L, 62-74 vs. (5) Henderson State
2017-18 | L, 71-76 vs. (2) Northwestern Oklahoma
2016-17 | L, 68-72 vs. (3) Arkansas Tech
2015-16 | L, 83-97 vs. (1) Harding
2015-16 | W, 83-82 vs. (4) Southwestern Oklahoma
2014-15 | L, 77-89 vs. (6) Harding
2013-14 | L, 60-73 vs. (6) Henderson State
2013-14 | W, 63-59 vs. (2) Southwestern Oklahoma
2012-13 | L, 43-62 vs. (1) Harding
2011-12 | L, 53-54 vs. (1) Arkansas Tech

Shocking Effort
While many may be shocked by Southern Arkansas' successes after graduating three high-caliber program enhancers and the retirement of a program builder in addition to a first-time, first-year head coach with a new staff and a roster that features nine new players, the consensus inside and around the program is that shocking effort makes the difference and it certainly has for the Muleriders on all areas of the floor.

Southern Arkansas has won the rebounding battle in 19 of the team's 28 games, committed fewer turnovers than its opponent in over half of them, while winning seven other games in which they committed more turnovers. SAU leads the GAC in offensive rebounding at 12.93 boards per game which ranks 22nd nationally; the highest national statistical ranking by the Muleriders in any category entering postseason play. The Muleriders' rebound margin of +5.2 and the team's total rebounding average of 37.57 per game both rank second in the league. The Muleriders are impactful on the glass as well as beyond the perimeter. Southern Arkansas ranks in the top five of the GAC in both three-point percentage (36.1) and three-point percentage defense (33.8). SAU's 26 three-point attempts per game ranks third in the league and the 9.4 makes are the second-most among league schools.

Seven players average 21+ minutes per night with three seeing more than 28 minutes on the floor.

SAU is currently +5.5 in scoring margin at 77.3 ppg; the second-highest scoring offense in the GAC. Hammond Jr. leads a scoring parade that has five players with double-figure averages as his 12.7 ppg comes behind a 45.4% shooting clip and a 40.5% success rate from three-point range. Wyche is averaging 10.2 ppg and owns a team-best 43.3% clip from beyond-the-arc with 68 made threes; currently the fifth-most in a single season in program history. Southern Arkansas' 263 made three point attempts this season are currently a single-season best which powers the sixth-best total points mark in a single season with 2,165 and counting.

Black's 11.2 ppg joins a team-leading 7.6 rebounds per game and 43 total steals. Ray Jr. follows with 10.8 ppg and the second-best rebounding average at 6.4. Blake Rogers scores at an average of 10.6 ppg and joins Hammond Jr. with 51 made triple tries.

Brock Schreiner and Jerry Carraway Jr. pace the team in assists. Schreiner leads with 82 and Carraway sits four back of that mark. The efforts by the backcourt this season gives SAU its first pair of teammates with 75 more assists in the same season since CJ Elkins (94) and Aaron Lucas (75) in 2017-18.

Mulerider Milestones
2/25 | The Muleriders needed ten extra minutes of action to put down Arkansas Tech in the regular season finale in Russellville. Southern Arkansas used the phenomenal late-game play from junior guard Jerry Carraway Jr.; two distinct game-changing drives to the basket, one with under seven seconds remaining in regulation and the other with just over two and a half minutes remaining in the first overtime, resulted in assists on huge three-point buckets and he also drained a triple try from nearby Pottsville to tie the game at 78 with 64 seconds left in the first bonus period to help the Muleriders outlast Arkansas Tech 85-83 in double overtime. The win stands as the 15th league victory which is the most for Southern Arkansas in its NCAA Era and are the most for a Mulerider team since the 1989-90 season. Additionally, the victory is the 19th of the season which matches the single-season wins record in the NCAA Era.

2/9 | 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 on the road at Southeastern Oklahoma. 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 SAU a physical 87-84 statement win over the Savage Storm. The 16 made shots from three-point range match the effort by the Muleriders 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.

12/3 - 1/12 | SAU picked up its first league win with a convincing 94-58 home win over Harding on December 3. The Muleriders would win six more contests including five GAC games and an 87-78 home win over Drury to put together its longest winning streak since winning eight games during the 19-win 2018-19 campaign. Of the wins in the streak, one of the most memorable happened on the road in Alva as Carraway Jr. crashed inside on a missed jumper in Southern Arkansas' final offensive possession and his put back bounced around and in with under a second remaining to give the Muleriders a hard-earned 79-78 league win over Northwestern Oklahoma State in a contest which saw nine lead changes.

11/17 | Southern Arkansas took care of business against Arlington Baptist on a Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center. The Muleriders won by 25 points, outscored ABU in the paint by 28 points and grabbed 17 more rebounds than the Patriots. SAU also managed to get out in transition scoring 21 fast break points in the win in addition to scoring 25 points off of 20 ABU turnovers. SAU shot 54.5% from the floor for the contest which was highlighted by a 63.3% success rate in the first half. Among all of the statistics from the Muleriders' win in its 2022-23 home opener was the number one. Logan Quinn, one of the youngest head men's basketball coaches in the NCAA regardless of division, earned his first career win. Three and a half months later, Quinn's Muleriders have tallied up 19 wins; the most by a head coach in his first year in the program's post WWII modern era.

10/23 | The Muleriders are tabbed ninth, projected to be the last of four teams to miss the conference's postseason tournament, when the GAC's Preseason Coaches Poll is announced. Much to the dismay of the rest of the league and powered by several highly impactful roster newcomers, the Muleriders largely ignored the expectations of 11 other league head coaches and put together a 28-game regular season that resulted in a tied for second finish; the highest end of regular season standing by the Muleriders in its GAC Era.