Southern Arkansas had to scrap, fight and come from behind Thursday night to make several things happen.
Following the 55-48 win over Arkansas-Monticello, the Muleriders (18-5, 13-4 GAC) gave their head coach his 100th SAU victory, clinched a spot in the GAC postseason tournament and set a new NCAA Division II era team record for wins in a single-season.
“What a team effort and I’m proud of how we really fought. That first half was really, really ugly. It was a physical game and one we really like to play in,” said SAU’s Andy Sharpe.
He noted his team really did a good job of just getting to half-time with a one-point lead. The coach added the Muleriders “got going” at some point in the second half.
“Big-time players make big-time plays. We had a lot of big-time plays tonight,” he said.
The Muleriders get a day of rest before heading to Arkadelphia Saturday to battle the OBU Tigers.
Both SAU and UAM struggled during the first 20 minutes.
The low-scoring affair was scoreless after the first 2 1/2 minutes before C.J. Elkins put SAU up 2-0.
The battle was tied 4-4 after nearly seven minutes of action, but UAM was up 19-10 at the five-minute mark.
SAU used a 10-0 run over the final 4 1/2 minutes and led 20-19 at the break.
An 9-0 run in the second half helped the visitors go up by 11, 37-26, with 11:31 to play.
The Muleriders, behind the play of Gabe Gilliam and Aaron Lucas, answered with a 14-2 run and later finished the game with an 8-0 spurt.
“Down the stretch, we made the 3-pointers that really mattered. Aaron made a big one and so did Gabe,” said Sharpe.
The coach said he was really pleased with the way his team played defense.
“From the eight-minute mark on, I felt like we were really hard to score against,” he noted. “We kept them off the glass and I’m just proud how we hung in there during an ugly game and found a way to win.
DeVante Brooks, who did the bulk of his scoring during the first few minutes, had 12 points along with Gilliam, who was 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
Lucas finished with 11 and Elkins added nine.
“We know that defense and rebounding will keep you in games you probably shouldn’t be in. That was our case tonight,” mentioned Sharpe. “When you can’t score, you’ve got to have something to fall back on.”
The coach also praised his bench for its support.
“There were some guys who normally get into the game and didn’t. Like Trey Davis, who sat over there for 40 minutes and cheered his tail off. Draylen Perkins went 0-for-7 was on the bench cheering down the stretch,” mentioned.
He said SAU has something special in this year’s group of Muleriders.
“They can and have weathered adversity, finding ways to win,” Sharpe added.
Cotton Blossoms 52
Lady Muleriders 41
Southern Arkansas gave another great effort, but allowed Arkansas-Monticello to get away in the second half and win 52-41.
SAU held an early 6-2 advantage, but UAM tied the game at 10-10 with a minute left in the first period
Ariana Guinn hit shot with 9.7 on the clock and the Lady Muleriders led 12-11 after one quarter.
SAU struggled in the second quarter as UAM used a 7-0 spurt to go up 18-12.
Olivia McWilliams had a 3-pointer late in the quarter as SAU trailed 25-18 at the break.
A 6-0 spurt to start the third period put the visitors up 31-18 and they went on to lead 39-25 after three quarters.
SAU managed to closed the gap to 10 during the final minutes, but lost by 11.
Guinn and Lena Maledon led in scoring with nine apiece.
The Lady Muleriders will play at OBU at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.