MAGNOLIA, Ark, - The Southern Arkansas University Muleriders (7-13, 4-10 GAC) fell tonight in heartbreaking fashion to the East Central University Tigers (10-10, 5-9 GAC) as ECU made a buzzer beater three to win by a final score of 59-58.
 
After a long road trip away from home, the Muleriders returned to the W.T. Watson Center for their annual community night game. The arena was buzzing with excitement as the contest got underway.
 
SAU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Jair Horton broke the ice with a layup. The Tigers answered quickly tying the game, but Horton responded again with a three pointer. The Mulerider offense then kicked into high gear opening up an eight-point lead with 14:50 to go in the first half, SAU led 12-4. ECU began to battle back but the Mulerider offense was hot in the first half taking a 23-13 lead with 7:31 before the break. SAU then stretched their lead out to 17 with 1:13 to go before half time, 34-17. A couple of late buckets cut into the Muleriders lead but they took a 34-22 lead into the intermission.
 
The Tigers came out firing in the second half flipping the script and tying the game at 44-44 with 8:39 remaining. After the tie, ECU took control of the game opening up as much as a six-point lead with 7:27 remaining, 50-44 ECU. Despite the Tigers offense heating up, SAU continued to battle as the game entered the final minute of play. With 53 seconds, ECU led the game 56-52. A foul in the paint led to Junior Williams making one free throw to cut the lead to three points with 31 seconds to go. ECU then inbounded the ball and turned it over as John Probey cut a pass off and converted a dunk, cutting the lead to one point with 25 seconds remaining. ECU then inbounded the ball again but another deflected pass and steal by Troy'reon Ramos led to a John Probey three to take a 58-56 lead. ECU inbounded the ball after a time out with 3.5 seconds remaining and sprinted down the court throwing up a prayer from three getting the shot off with 0.1 seconds on the clock. The shot fell and SAU fell in heartbreaking fashion.
 
"That was a hard fought match!," said Head Coach Mark Rutledge. "Love how our guys battled! Turnovers are still an issue and today we were very bad from the free throw line. We fought through some second half adversity and made some huge plays! They made a tough shot at the end. We could not have guarded that play any better than we did. Credit to East Central."
 
Top Performers
Troy'reon Ramos: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal
Jair Horton: 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist
John Probey: 10 points, 1 steal
Junior Williams: 7 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
 
Up Next
The Muleriders will return to action Saturday, February 7th inside the W.T. Watson Center as they play host to the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.