BETHANY, Okla. – Carel Ray Jr. scored a GAC Era record 38 points with 29 coming in the second half, the second-most total points in Southern Arkansas' NCAA Era, but the Muleriders' second half surge, which followed an early 19-0 deficit from the tipoff, fell just short on Saturday afternoon from inside the Sawyer Center as Southern Nazarene topped SAU 78-72 in Great American Conference action. The loss drops the Muleriders into a three-way tie with East Central and Oklahoma Baptist for the eighth and final tournament spot with two games to play.

Ray's late-season scoring expo saw him hit 13-of-21 from the floor with three makes from deep and 9-of-10 from the stripe. He added ten rebounds, two assists and a steal in 40 minutes of action. Anthony Igiede followed with a dozen points and recorded seven rebounds.

Christian Caldwell knocked down a paint jumper with 13:36 to play in the first half and in the process ended a 19-0 Southern Nazarene run to open the contest. The Muleriders outscored the Crimson Storm 29-20 over the remainder of the first half which concluded with a Cedric Garrett three-point make in the final twenty seconds to pull the Muleriders to within ten points of the SNU lead.

Ray's first points of the afternoon weren't netted until the 7:35 mark of the first half as he bottomed an attempt from range to push the Muleriders into double figures. Ray finished with nine first-half points to set the stage for a bucket-getting second half.

In the second half, Ray hit a three-point shot at the 18:12 mark for his first points of the second half and to cut the deficit to 11, he followed with four free throws over a 37 second span down to the 15:10 mark and then scored a fast break basket with 14:40 to play to give him 18 points for the game. Ray would go for 20 of SAU's 28 points over the final dozen minutes of action as SAU battled all the way back to cut the deficit to three points with 44 seconds remaining by SNU used three free throws down he stretch, while SAU missed a pair of three-point shots.

Ray's 38 points are second in SAU's NCAA Era to only Shawn Mason's 41 points against Arkansas Tech in 2001.

Second chance points benefitted the Muleriders greatly as they turned 11 offensive rebounds into 15 points compared to the four points off four offensive boards. Some of that effort is due in large part to SNU shooting 54.2% from the floor which included a 40.9% success rate from three-point range. The Crimson Storm capitalized on 16 Mulerider turnovers scoring 25 points.

The Muleriders turn their attention to a potential season-defining week of action to close out the regular season. SAU travels to Arkadelphia on Thursday, February 29 for a 7:30 p.m. start against Ouachita. On Saturday, March 2, the Muleriders return home for Senior Day to take on Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m. in the regular season finale. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.