SHAWNEE, Okla. – A turn-around, off-balance jumper from around the right baseline left the stroke of senior guard Carel Ray Jr. with 16 seconds to play and the go-ahead bucket was upheld on the back of two big defensive stops by Southern Arkansas in the final ten seconds of play on Thursday night inside the Noble Complex. The Muleriders kept their Great American Conference hopes alive with a 70-69 win over Oklahoma Baptist, in a contest that saw nine lead changes and three tied scores, to move into a tie for seventh place with Southwestern Oklahoma State at 8-11 in league play. The victory snaps a three-game losing streak for the Muleriders.

Ray's basket capped a 21-point night for the North Carolina native who has delivered twenty points for the fourth-straight game, for the fifth time in his past six contests and for the ninth time this campaign. Gregory Hammond Jr. gutted through a performance that ended with a hefty double-double of 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, his third double-double of the season, and a 5-for-7 effort from downtown to match his career-high in three-point makes.

Oklahoma Baptist led in paint points (26-14) due in most part to the Muleriders' ability to sink the three ball on Thursday in the Sooner State. SAU knocked down ten plus three-point attempts for the first time since January 11; a span of 11 games in between that road loss at Southeastern Oklahoma and SAU's second win over the Bison this season.

On the glass, Southern Arkansas controlled the transactions 49-42 and defended better than the Bison on a night that saw 21 three-point makes, 34 second chance points and Oklahoma Baptist make just four more shots in a dozen more attempts from the floor. SAU did just enough at the charity stripe making 14 of its 23 attempts, while OBU converted just eight of its 17 tries from the line.

An 11-5 run over the first four plus minutes of play in the second half set Oklahoma Baptist to a 44-40 advantage at the 15:45 mark. Ray knocked down a triple try to pull Southern Arkansas to within a point at 44-43, but the Bison used a 9-0 streak to grab a commanding 53-43 with 11:48 to play.

Southern Arkansas then used successful trips to the stripe by Ray and Jessie Davis Jr. to cut the deficit to six before the former netted another hoist from range to bring the Muleriders to within a possession of the lead at 53-50 with 8:52 remaining. A Hammond three-point make 45 seconds later was in response to an inside bucket by the Bison and kept the disadvantage at just two points.

The Bison led by six points with six minutes to go in the game. A free throw from Davis, two more from Hammond and an offensive board plus bucket from the former again rallied SAU to a 61-60 shortage at the 4:32 mark of the second half. Moments later, Ray converted one of two free throws and Caldwell responded inside with paint points as the Muleriders stayed in striking distance at 65-63 with just over two minutes remaining.

Free throws helped the Bison go up by four points at 67-63 at the 1:41 mark and it was free throws by Ray that brought SAU back to a bucket of the lead. With an opportunity to push the lead back to four, Oklahoma Baptist missed an inside attempt, Davis corralled the board and Caldwell found Ray who triggered a fast break trifecta to give the Muleriders a 68-67 lead with 53 seconds left.  

Twelve second later, OBU's Trevin Wade pushed the Bison out front for the final time as Ray's jumper fell and the Muleriders used a huge block by Caldwell and tough defense on a Nathan Wilson miss with less than a second to play to secure the win; SAU's third-straight overall against Oklahoma Baptist and third-straight inside the Shawnee city limits.

Two big first half runs and 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range by Hammond aided Southern Arkansas in carrying a 35-33 lead into the break.

Southern Arkansas trailed 17-7 in the first half of action, but battled back with an 15-4 run to take its first lead of the game at 22-21 with 8:21 remaining in the half. Three-point makes by Ray, Cedric Garrett and Mohamed Traore plus a midrange jumper by Hammond highlighted the action prior to SAU grabbing the lead, while a beyond-the-arc make by Anthony Igiede pushed the visitors out front. Five Muleriders hit a three point shot in the first half of action as Southern Arkansas made eight in the opening twenty minutes.

Oklahoma Baptist responded with a 10-0 run to take a 31-22 lead with 4:31 to play, but another first half run was at the Muleriders' disposal. Traore scored on a floating jumper, the Bison answered with a bucket and Southern Arkansas employed an 11-0 advantage over the final 3:09 of first half action to take the two-point lead into the second half.

During that game-changing run, the Muleriders used a trifecta from Hammond on an assist by Igiede which followed an offensive board by Davis. Davis would make two free throws and Hammond would follow by nailing threes on consecutive under-2 possessions to post SAU on top at the intermission.

Davis finished with eight points, six from the stripe, and seven rebounds. Ray was a rebound shy of a double-double and Caldwell added three steals and three rebounds to four points and the massive block.

Southern Arkansas prepares for a Saturday afternoon tipoff in Bethany against Southern Nazarene. The Crimson Storm are a game up on the Muleriders and in a three-way tie for fourth place with three games to go. Live coverage links for the 3 p.m. start are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.