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SAU Communications
75
Southern Ark. SA 8-12,6-8 GAC
78
Winner Southwestern Okla. SWO 7-12,7-7 GAC
Southern Ark. SA
8-12,6-8 GAC
75
Final
78
Southwestern Okla. SWO
7-12,7-7 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Ark. SA 32 43 75
Southwestern Okla. SWO 35 43 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Jacob Pumphrey

Muleriders suffer close loss in Weatherford

Southern Arkansas’ last four losses by six or fewer points

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Another close loss was suffered by Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon as the Muleriders dropped a 78-75 decision to Southwestern Oklahoma in Great American Conference action from inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center. The defeat pushes the Muleriders down into a three-way tie for seventh at 6-8 in league play. SWOSU moves a game up on SAU and into and three-way tie for fourth place. Eight games remain in the regular season.

SWOSU built an early advantage of a dozen points at 21-9 just under eight minutes into the opening half. A three-point make by Jaren Harris cut the deficit to four points as the clock dipped under 9:30, a lay in by Carel Ray Jr. brought SAU to within two at 23-21 and a trifecta from Mohamed Traore at the 7:39 mark gave the Muleriders a 24-23 lead.

SAU's advantage would grow to as much as six down the stretch of the first half as Anthony Igiede drained a deep attempt, but the Bulldogs closed the half on a 10-1 run to take a 35-32 lead into the intermission.

The second half took off and soon looked like the Bulldogs would pull away leading by eight at the 15:24 mark and by 13 with 12:50 to play. SAU cut the lead down to seven points, but the host ran the lead back up to 13 at 64-51 at the 9:04 mark. A 16-6 run ensued by Southern Arkansas as the Muleriders climbed all the way back to trail by just a possession at 70-67 with 3:35 remaining. Ray capped that run by converting an old-fashioned three-point play.

SAU used a tough finish by Christian Caldwell with eight seconds to go to bring SAU to within a point of matching the Bulldogs, but a pair of MJ Warrior free throws pushed the lead to three as the Muleriders were unable to get off a final shot attempt.

The Muleriders finished +9 in rebounding and +2 in paint points, but SWOSU scored seven more fast break points than SAU to total 16 as the Bulldogs managed to push the floor, while also turning 18 Mulerider turnovers, the third-most by SAU against a GAC foe this season, into 19 points.

Southern Arkansas did outshoot SWOSU overall with 28 makes in 59 attempts, with the Bulldogs taking and making one less each. SAU made two more trifectas in nine more attempts from beyond-the-arc.

Ray led SAU with 21 points, his fifth game this season with 20 more points, and added eight rebounds. Gregory Hammond Jr. followed with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Igiede scored ten points with six rebounds. Six different players recorded a steal.

The Muleriders return home for their next four games beginning first with a Thursday night tilt against East Central on February 8 at 7:30 p.m. Southern Arkansas topped East Central 79-61 on January 13. It will be Community Night inside the W.T. Watson Center with the focus on The CALL in Columbia County. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
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