MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Senior guard De'Sean Dockery produced a career-high 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added six rebounds and a game-high five steals, but a second-half surge by Southern Arkansas was halted by Northwestern Oklahoma as the Rangers claimed a 77-67 win in the Great American Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.

RECORDS

Northwestern Oklahoma (9-11, 5-10 GAC)

Southern Arkansas (9-12, 7-8 GAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Rangers built first-half leads of 13-4 and 25-13 through the game's first seven minutes of play. A 10-0 Southern Arkansas run that stretched 1:58 from the 13-minute mark to 11:02 remaining in the first half was highlighted by a pair of Keeton Tennison three-pointers and buckets from CJ Elkins and Snyder Cenecharles that brought the Mulerider deficit to a one possession game at 25-23.

The largest Northwestern Oklahoma lead through the remainder of the first half would be just six points as the Rangers led 42-36 into the intermission.

Southern Arkansas surged coming out of the halftime break as Dockery heated up over the first two and a half minutes of the second half scoring nine points and assisting on a heavy dunk by Denarious Lockhart as part of an 11-3 Mulerider run that pushed SAU out front 47-45 with 16:09 remaining in the game.

The two teams traded buckets over the next three-plus minutes before Southern Arkansas gained their last lead of the afternoon at the 12:55 mark of the second half courtesy of Lockhart finding an alley-oop pass from Tennison and finishing the high percentage shot in emphatic fashion as the Muleriders led 54-53.

Northwestern Oklahoma would close the game on a 24-13 run that saw the Rangers work inside and muscle their way to the rim for several contested baskets on their way to the 77-67 win.

FOR SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

Dockery's career-night saw the senior score 17 of his 25 points in the second half as he played the role of catalyst early on helping the Muleriders climb back into the game midway through the final half of play.

Tennison followed with 11 points as he connected on three three-point attempts.

Tony Aska delivered with a team-high eight rebounds and added a pair of blocks, while joining Elkins and Lockhart with seven points apiece.

Dockery and Darnell Jones-Bowie dished out three assists each, while Lockhart and Cenecharles each added two steals.

FOR THE OPPOSITION

The Rangers made 11 three-pointers in the game and eight of those came from Cody Halverson who dropped 27 points and added three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.

Adrian Motley hoisted a game-high 21 shot attempts, collecting 25 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

Greg Minor Jr. followed with 11 points and picked up three steals to round out double-figure scoring for Northwestern Oklahoma.

Brandon Green collected six rebounds and a game-high six assists to go with eight points.

OF NOTE

Northwestern Oklahoma edged SAU in points off turnovers (19-17) and in second-chance points (11-10).

The game's three tied scores and six lead changes all came in the second half.

The Muleriders won the battle inside, outscoring NWOSU in the paint, 36-24.

Southern Arkansas outshot the Rangers from the floor as they posted a shooting clip of 44.6% (25-of-56), compared to NWOSU's mark of 44.3% (27-of-61). The Rangers connected on six more three-point attempts than SAU.

Dockery's previous career-high in scoring was 20 points which he has produced twice in his two-year stint as a Mulerider. His five steals are also a career-high having bested his four steal output on the road against Northwestern Oklahoma on December 1.

The Muleriders are two games up on Northwestern Oklahoma in the league's win column and are holding onto the eighth and final tournament spot, while the Rangers, who sit it ninth-place, hold the season series against SAU.

UP NEXT

Southern Arkansas returns to the floor again on Thursday, February 9, for a Great American Conference meeting with Arkansas Tech at 7:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum in Russellville, Ark. The Muleriders will look to avenge their 90-88 loss to the Wonder Boys on January 14 in Magnolia.