ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's basketball team dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Southern Arkansas University by the score of 95-94 Thursday night at Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita (5-4, 0-3 GAC) struck first against Southern Arkansas (4-5, 1-3 GAC) in the Tigers' home conference opener. SAU answered back and took the lead at the 15-minute mark. Ouachita tied things back up three minutes later at 15-15 and retook the lead just before the 11-minute mark in the first half. The Tigers held that lead for the next four minutes when the Muleriders gained back the advantage. SAU held that lead for the final minutes of the half and the Tigers went into halftime trailing 37-29.
Southern Arkansas stayed in control to start the second half, pushing its lead out to double-digits. Any time that Ouachita tried to cut into the deficit, SAU had an answer. In fact, the Muleriders held the lead for 19 minutes and 56 seconds in the half. Backing up to the final two minutes, SAU had an eight-point lead with 1:55 remaining. The Tigers cut it to three with 1:12 left to go. After SAU went back up by five,
Gavin Snyder drew a foul on a made three-pointer and made the ensuing free throw to make it a one-point game with 40 seconds on the clock. Southern Arkansas went back up by two with 17 seconds left, but
Shaun Williams tied things up with two free throws with four seconds on the clock and the score of 82-82 to send the game to overtime.
The Tigers scored first in OT and took their first lead since the 7:06 mark in the first half. After SAU tied it not long after, Ouachita retook the lead and pushed it to two possessions with three minutes remaining. The Tigers held that lead for the next two minutes until the Muleriders tied things back up at 92-92 with 40 seconds on the clock. Ouachita went back up on a Williams jumper with 20 seconds remaining. It looked like Ouachita was going to hold on to win, but with 1.8 seconds left, SAU made a go-ahead three to take the lead and the Tigers would end up falling 95-94.
Williams led all scorers with a career-high 32 points that included a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.
Hobert Grayson secured his seventh double-double of the season with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Grayson also picked up three steals for the team lead.
Snyder was next on the team in scoring with 12 points followed by
Reggie Martin with 10 to round out the Tigers in double-figures. Snyder and Martin both tied for second on the team in rebounds with four each.
PJ Neal dished out a season-high nine assists in the contest and added two steals.
A combined 49 fouls were called in the contest with 65 total free throws being attempted throughout the 45 minutes of action.
The Tigers will look for their first GAC win of the season this weekend when they travel to take on the Boll Weevils of the University of Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday, December 14 at 3 p.m. in Monticello, Arkansas.
