MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University Muleriders (4-4, 1-1 GAC) defeated the 15th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist Bison (7-1, 1-1 GAC) in a thriller inside the W.T. Watson Center. The top-15 win is the first one since SAU defeated the 4th ranked University of Alabama Huntsville on January 2nd, 2011.

The Muleriders were the first on the board in this game as Junior Williams made an early bucket to break the ice, 2-0. Shortly after, the Bison's scored a bucket of their own to tie the game up at two all. After tying the game, OBU took the lead as the Muleriders continued to fight to keep the game close.

The first half was low scoring as with 10 minutes left, the Bison led 17-15. After the 10-minute mark the scoring picked up as SAU tied the game at 21-21 with 7:17 remaining before halftime. After tying the game, the Muleriders took control and did not relinquish the lead building it all the way to 10-points to take a 40-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Bison came out of halftime with some fight as they tied the game at 47-47 with 13 minutes remaining. From there, OBU built their lead out to nine points taking a 63-54 lead with 8:21 remaining. The Muleriders were not done though as they began to reel the Bison in starting with Junior Williams making a layup to cut the lead to seven, 63-56.

After going up by nine points again, 71-62, the Muleriders continued to fight shrinking the lead OBU lead to just two points with 1:01 remaining behind some gritty defense and clutch baskets. The Muleriders got the ball back after two missed Bison free throws and Kendal Parker came up clutch hitting a corner three with 23 seconds left igniting the crowd and giving SAU their first lead since the 12:36 mark in the second half. From there, a turnover followed by a foul and JaKourion Key going 1-2 at the free throw line, OBU got the ball back with a chance to win. The Mulerider defense stood tall yet again collecting a rebound after a missed three from the Bison and SAU walked away with a massive top 15 win.

"Big win for our guys!," remarked Head Coach Mark Rutledge after the game. "We weren't perfect. We spoke about playing to our standard regardless of the scoreboard. We spoke about trusting each other. Huge shoutout to the guys. They did that. Built a 10-point lead by halftime and lost the 10-point lead almost immediately in the second half. Went down by nine but we didn't panic. We just kept playing Mulerider basketball. I love this group. Extremely happy for them!"

Top Performers

Troy'reon Ramos: 24 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Kendal Parker: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 5-5 from the free throw line

Junior Williams: 12 points, 1 block

Jair Horton: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists

JaKourion Key: 9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 7-8 from the free throw line

Up next

The Muleriders will be back in action against Arkansas Tech on Monday, December 15th in Russellville, Arkansas. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.