MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The time is here. It is time for Great American Conference play to begin as Mulerider Men's Basketball travels to the Oklahoma City area to face Southern Nazarene on Thursday at 7:30 PM and to Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at 3:00 PM. The GAC format has changed slightly as the league is to begin the conference schedule with out-of-state competition before in-state for the first time since 2017-18. Southern Arkansas comes off its first loss in four games after falling to the Angelo State Rams on the road in a tightly-contested outing with a final score of 65-71. Despite the loss, SAU has shown great resilience all season as the group still holds a 12.3 scoring margin for the season thanks to its three games before last Saturday.
 
Southern Nazarene (4-1 | 1-0 GAC)
>>> To begin the 2024-25 campaign, the Crimson Storm has not been afraid to test themselves plenty in the opening weeks as the unit has opened the season 3-1 after division II wins against Northeastern State (71-66), Arkansas Fort Smith (68-66), and Texas A&M International (71-46).
>>> SNU is coming off of its first loss of the year after being defeated by the No. 6 ranked team in the nation, Dallas Baptist (64-82), but then followed it up with a 67-44 win against Arkansas-Monticello to begin conference play.
>>> Baron Bracey has been the Storm's scoring leader this season as the junior averages 14.3 points per game off of 32.8 minutes per game. The California native is the group's top free throw shooter as well as the second-best on the team for rebounds with 17 total (14 defensive).
>>> Leading SNU in rebounding has been the group's 6'7" forward James Burries. Burries has recorded 22 rebounds this season and has acquired 19 of those boards on defense.
>>> Last season, the Muleriders and the Crimson Storm split the home-and-home series as each unit won on their home court by the same score as the other. SAU won in Magnolia 78-72; SNU won in Bethany 78-72.
 
Oklahoma Baptist (3-3 | 0-0 GAC)
>>> Oklahoma Baptist, much like Southern Arkansas, has started its season 3-3 before entering conference competition. The Bison opened up the year 3-1 but fell in their last two contests. One of those contests was just a two-point loss to the 6th ranked Dallas Baptist Patriots and a following loss coming against TAMU-International (64-68).
>>> Leading the Bison in scoring so far has been sophomore guard Terry Coner Jr. The Alabama native is averaging 16.2 points per game (81 total) and has made 23 of his 25 field goal attempts this season for a 92% free-throw percentage. The sophomore also leads OBU in assists (14) and steals (13).
>>> Oklahoma Baptist's rebound leader has been New Zealand native Nathan Wilson. The 6'8" senior has accounted for 54 boards and has had as many as 16 in a game this season.
>>> Southern Arkansas has defeated the Bison in the last three meetings, while the last four meetings have been decided by four points or less.
 
Early Season Turnaround
>>> The Muleriders are coming off a pair of hard-fought ballgames as the group won a thriller at home before the Thanksgiving break against Rogers State (71-68), and fell on the road at Angelo State in a tight competition after the break (65-71).
>>> The start to the season for Southern Arkansas began a bit rough with a couple of tight losses in the Central Region Tournament, but since then, the Muleriders have gone 3-1 and 1-1 against a couple of impressive division II opponents.
>>> There has been an evident turnaround for Coach Mark Rutledge's Muleriders from the season-opening week as the group took advantage of their bounce-back opportunities against Ecclesia College (120-57) and Arlington Baptist (108-82).
>>> The resilience shown by the Muleriders so far was mostly seen in the group's victory against the Hillcats as SAU was down by as much as 17 points and came back to win the Central Region bout.
 
An Unnatural Start
>>> The Great American Conference opening week looks a little bit different than what teams have become accustomed to. Southern Arkansas will start with cross-state opponents rather than the typical "Natural" beginnings against programs from Arkansas.
>>> The Muleriders are set to begin their chase towards its 14th consecutive invite to the Great American Conference tournament, but this time in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
>>> For the first time since the 2017-18 season, GAC play will begin outside the state of Arkansas as the Muleriders are set to travel to the plains of Oklahoma to begin conference play for the first time in five years.
>>> In the 2017-18 season, Southern Arkansas opened GAC play against the two neighbors of Oklahoma City (SNU & OBU) just like they are doing now as that go around saw the Mulerider drop both contests by single digits.
>>> Since joining the Great American Conference, the Muleriders have gone 11-13 in the opening week of league play, in which they have split the week (1-1) seven times over the 13-year time span (including COVID season).
>>> Breaking down opening week even more, the Muleriders are 7-6 when following the events of game one in conference play.