THE RUNDOWN

Ouachita Baptist refused to go away Thursday night in Magnolia, but Southern Arkansas distanced itself from the Tigers down the stretch in a 68-57 Mulerider win at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. Kendarious Smith led the Tigers with 17 points on the night.

Ouachita erased a nine-point deficit in the first half to tie the game at 18 and spent the majority of the middle 15 minutes of the game within four points of the home team, forcing two ties during that span but never gaining the lead. After the Tigers knotted the score at 41 on Smith's three-pointer, SAU opened a 10-point lead and held on for the win.

Deaveon Bankston and Ma'Darius Hobson led Ouachita with six rebounds apiece, while Smith's four assists were a team-high.
 

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

- Ouachita improved its three-point shooting from 3-8 (.375) in the first half to 6-10 (.600) after halftime
- Thursday's game was the third of the season at the Watson Athletic Center this season for Ouachita. The Tigers have played just two games at Bill Vining Arena
- The Tigers fell to 1-6 on the season and 1-5 in Great American Conference play

BY THE NUMBERS

12- Marvin Williams-Dunn's 12 points more than doubled his career total of 11 entering the game
898- Smith is just two points away from hitting the 900-point threshold for his career
24- The Tigers committed a season-high 24 turnovers

NEXT UP

The Tigers travel to Searcy to take on Harding on Saturday at 4 p.m.