SHAWNEE, Okla. - It took an entire 40 minutes for (2) Southern Arkansas to dispatch (7) Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday afternoon in the first quarterfinal matchup of the 2023 Great American Conference Basketball Championship from inside FireLake Arena. Powered by an 18-point, ten-rebound double double effort from senior forward All-GAC honorable mention LaTreavin Black, the Muleriders employed an 8-0 run over the game's final 1:46 to claim a 71-67 win, an NCAA program record 20th of the season, and advance to Saturday's second semifinal where it will meet the (3) Southeastern Oklahoma vs. (6) Henderson State winner scheduled for a Friday night tip-off. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
The win serves as the sixth victory all-time for the Muleriders in GAC postseason play and it marks the third-straight season that the program has advanced to the tournament semifinals and the fifth time overall. Thursday's matchup, the third between the two programs this season, featured nine lead changes of which six occurred in the second half as well as four tied scores in the final twenty minutes of play.
Southern Arkansas (20-9) carried a 43-32 lead into the intermission and over the first two-plus minutes of play following the break, the Muleriders' advantage bloomed to 17 points at 49-32 after a successful jumper from Brock Schreiner at the 17:54 mark of the second half. That basket capped a 38-14 run by the Muleriders who were trailing 18-11 at the under-12 media timeout of the first half.
An 18-2 Oklahoma Baptist run, which took 4:45 of game time, brought the Bison all the way back to within a point of the SAU lead at 51-50 with 13:09 remaining in the game. Back-to-back baskets by Wyche cushioned the lead at five and Carraway scored inside to push the advantage to seven points. The Bison responded with an 8-0 run sandwiched by a pair of three-point buckets to take a 58-57 lead.
Schreiner kept the energy moving for Southern Arkansas moving inside on an expiring shot clock and tossing one off the glass to retake a 60-59 lead with a little more than six minutes to play. Oklahoma Baptist would take the lead two more times which included a second-chance bucket by Ricky Brown to push OBU out front 67-63 at the 3:04 mark.
The Muleriders would come away empty on its next two possessions, but a defensive rebound by Black, his ninth at the time, was dribbled up the floor and the Shreveport native found Rogers in transition and the senior guard hit the biggest triple try of his career and the only three-point bucket of the half by the Muleriders as he pulled SAU to within a point at 67-66 with 1:46 to play.
With just over a minute to play, Black nailed two huge free throws to give the Muleriders a 68-67 lead, Schreiner knocked down two with 13 seconds left and Black added one more and followed it with an intentional miss with less than a second left to seal the win. The Mulerider defense forced the Bison into missing its last five shots over the final 2:31 of play.
It was a game of runs early for both benches as the Bison opened up on a 6-0 advantage, before the Muleriders settled in to score the next seven points and take a one-point lead into the under-16 media timeout. OBU followed with a 12-4 run as the Bison worked around inside to their liking as the aforementioned seven-point lead came behind a 9-for-13 shooting effort over the first eight minutes of play.
Following the second media stoppage of the opening twenty minutes, senior guard Kris Wyche checked in from the corner and drained SAU's first triple try of the afternoon to pull the Muleriders to within four points of the Bison lead. Carel Ray Jr. followed with a tough two-point basket as he raised up over a defender inside and Schreiner converted two free throws as SAU pulled to within a bucket at 20-18 with 10:43 till the half.
Despite a slow start defending the paint, the perimeter defense was active forcing the Bison into missing its first five attempts from range. As the clock neared the nine-minute mark, Wyche nailed another three on a helper from GAC Newcomer of the Year Gregory Hammond Jr. and senior Blake Rogers followed on the next trip down the floor with a trifecta to give the Muleriders a 24-22 lead at the 8:11 mark that they would carry through the 7:59 mark of the second half.
The Muleriders began to find a groove over the course of the remaining eight minutes of the first half. Black took over as he scored eight of the team's next ten points following Rogers' go-ahead triple try. After Black's fourth bucket of the stretch, junior guard Jerry Carraway Jr. assisted Ray Jr. inside and the latter converted a reverse layup at the 3:05 mark and then the former touched a shot high off glass for a bucket before hitting a three-point bucket pushing SAU out front 41-30 with less than 70 seconds to play in the half.
Southern Arkansas controlled the action inside despite an early dominance by the Bison. The Muleriders finished +4 in paint scoring behind 38 such points and went even with OBU in total rebounding, but edged the Bison on the offensive glass at +3.
The Muleriders' halftime lead was a product of only one first half turnover and a 51.4% shooting clip from the floor. Southern Arkansas won the game at the free throw line and on the defensive end of the floor. After shooting just 24% from the floor with only one three-point make in ten attempts over the final twenty minutes of action, SAU hit 13 of its 16 free throws in the second half. Southern Arkansas defended well on the perimeter allowing only five makes in 22 Bison trifecta tries.
Black added one block, one assist and a steal to his seventh double-double effort of the season. Black started 1-of-4 from the floor and finished 6-of-7. Wyche followed with a dozen points, added eight rebounds, four steals, one block and an assist. Carraway scored 12 points and contributed three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Hammond finishes with six points, seven boards, two assists and two blocks.
Southern Arkansas benefits from a day off before taking the floor at 8 p.m. on Saturday night with a berth in the GAC Tournament title game on the line.
SAU in the GAC Tournament (12th appearance; 6-11)
2022-23 | W, 71-67 vs. (7) Oklahoma Baptist
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
