MAGNOLIA, Ark.- The Southern Arkansas University Muleriders (5-8, 2-5) defeated the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savage Storm (3-10, 1-6) by a final score of 80-62 in the W.T. Watson Center on a cold and rainy night.
 
The Blue and Gold jumped out to a hot start going on a 6-0 run to open the game. The Savage Storm wouldn't get on the board until the 17:51 mark in the first half with a jumper to cut the deficit to four. SAU would open up a 10-point lead at the 14:29 mark in the first half as Carel Ray Jr. drained a three to put the Muleriders up 17-7.
 
At the 10:26 mark, SAU would hold their largest lead of the first half as Zac Pennington would sink a three to make it a 14-point lead over Southeastern.
 
The Savage Storm would not go away quietly as they were able to tie the contest at 36 going into halftime.
 
The first five minutes of the second half would be a back-and-forth battle with the two teams exchanging blows until the Muleriders would get hot yet again, going on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 10-point lead, 55-45.
 
The Muleriders offense found their rhythm in the second half. After the 7:35 mark in the second half the deficit would not fall below 11 eventually leading to the Muleriders dominant 18-point win to end the game.
 
The Muleriders offense was clicking on all cylinders tonight with five players scoring double digit points, draining nine three's and shooting 40% from beyond the arc in the first half while finishing the game shooting 33.3% from the beyond the arc. The Blue and Gold also finished the game 32-for-66 from the field (48.5%), while outrebounding the Savage Storm 34-31.
 
Players of the game:
Carel Ray Jr.: 19 points (team lead) and five rebounds
Anthony Igiede: 14 points and nine rebounds (team lead)
Christian Caldwell: 11 points and four rebounds
Rashad Bishop: 13 points and four rebounds
BJ Davis: 10 points and four rebounds
 
Next Up:
The Muleriders will be back in action Saturday, January 11th at the W.T. Watson Center in Magnolia, Arkansas as they look to continue their momentum against the East Central University Tigers. Tip-off is set for 3:00 P.M. CT.