Box Score ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – In a game that was back-and-forth the whole contest, it was Southern Arkansas who squeaked out a 72-70 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday evening.
Fouls played a major role in the game as both teams ended up in the bonus early and often. There were 47 fouls called in the game, Ouachita (12-15, 10-12 GAC) was called for 26 of them. With the loss to Southern Arkansas (15-13, 11-11 GAC) the Tigers fall to the eighth seed in the upcoming Great American Conference.
Ouachita won almost every statistical battle against the Muleriders on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers held the advantage with points in the paint, second chance points, fast break points, bench points and even field goal percentage. Southern Arkansas won two key important statistics though as they committed less fouls and out rebounded the Tigers by six.
The two squads went stride-for-stride with one another as neither side wanted to yield an inch. Southern Arkansas pulled ahead by five points after a pair of free throws were made by KJ Collins.
Ouachita quickly responded though as the Tigers went on a 13-2 run to take a six-point advantage with 5:48 to go in the opening half.
At the 1:55 mark of the first half CJ Elkins hit a pair of free throws to give Southern Arkansas the lead back. The free throws capped a 10-3 run by the Muleriders.
With seven seconds to go in the half Trey Harris (Little Rock, Ark.) laid in an easy bucket that gave Ouachita a 36-33 advantage. It appeared that this would be the halftime score, but CJ Elkins sprinted up the floor sank a last second three-point attempt to tie the game up.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams as neither side led by more than 4 points in the half. The game was ultimately decided by fouls and being able to get to the free throw line.
Southern Arkansas appeared to be the beneficiary on a few calls as they made 21-of-27 free throw attempts in the contest. Much to the chagrin of the crowd the Muleriders were not called for a foul in the final 8:37 of play.
The Tigers still had a chance to win though late in the game. Down 71-67 with less than 15 seconds to go in the game Mahlon Martin (Little Rock, Ark.) came up with another clutch three-pointer to pull the Tigers within a point.
Elkins hit one-of-two free throws to make it a 72-70 advantage for Southern Arkansas. Martin received the inbounds pass and raced up the floor to launch a last second half-court shot. The shot was off the mark and gave the Muleriders the victory.
A quartet of Tiger players finished in double figures. Wesley Franklin (Frisco, Texas) finished with a team high 12 points, Harris ended the night with 11 points, Martin and Kendarious Smith (Canton, Miss.) each had 10 points in the contest.
Jontavis Willis (Strong, Ark.) led the seniors with 7 points,
Jordan Corbitt (Frisco, Texas) added 6 points and Aitor Lopez-Breton (Bilbao, Spain) finished with 4 points.
Ouachita is still in the Great American Conference Tournament next weekend, but they will have to face top-seeded Southern Nazarene in the first round.
