MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Three players scored in double figures and the Muleriders trailed for just 28 seconds in the team's 88-59 home-opening victory over Ecclesia College on Monday night inside the W.T. Watson Center.

Records

Ecclesia Royals (0-9)

Southern Arkansas (2-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED – 1st HALF

• KJ Collins scored the first bucket of the game on an inside shot and EC's JR Ramirez sank a three-pointer to give the Royals the lead.

• It was a short-lived advantage for the Ecclesia as CJ Elkins converted on a fastbreak basket to put Southern Arkansas out front 4-3.

• The Muleriders would not look back over the game's next nine minutes as its lead grew to fifteen points with a 24-9 advantage at the 11:15 mark of the first half.

• With just over six minutes to play in the opening half, Wesley Nosakhare and Devante Brooks connected on high-percentage shots to give SAU its largest margin of the night at 19, 34-15, with 5:26 left in the first half.

• Less than a minute later, Brooks hit a pair of free throws as the Muleriders led by 22 points. Ecclesia would not go away easy as the Royals cut a 21-point deficit at the 3:34 mark of the first half all the way down to nine points at the intermission behind three trifectas and five free throws.

HOW IT HAPPENED – 2nd HALF

• Coming out of the halftime break with a 44-35 lead, Southern Arkansas again saw Collins and Elkins score inside buckets with the former accounting for two and the lead quickly jumped to 15 points less than a minute and a half into the second half.

• A free throw by Nosakhare and a mid-range jumper from Tennison pushed the advantage to 18 with 16:38 to play.

• Tennison drained his third three-pointer of the game to put Southern Arkansas' lead back at 21 and Chuck Thomas bullied his way inside at the 13:24 mark as the Muleriders led 60-37, which stood as their largest lead of the evening until Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws to push SAU's lead to 24 with 11:15 to play.

• A Royal bucket on the next trip down the court would mark the closest EC would get to SAU's lead down the stretch as the Muleriders answered the basket with an 11-0 run that created a 33-point advantage with 6:35 left and the SAU lead would never drop under 27 points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Keeton Tennison went for 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting including a 60% (3-of-5) clip from downtown. He added four rebounds and picked up a pair of steals.

• Collins followed with a dozen points including six makes from the free throw line and chipped in with six rebounds and a block.

• Lucas added 11 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds, while Elkins delivered a team-high five assists and Charlie Thomas grabbed a game-high 11 boards.

• The Muleriders shot over 45% from the floor in Monday night's win and added an 82.6% (19-of-23) clip from the charity stripe. SAU also picked up 18 offensive rebounds and allowed just seven, while holding the lead for 39:16.

• Additionally, Southern Arkansas picked up eight steals and scored 17 second-chance points.

• The Royals sunk 11 three-pointers including six from DQ Bagsby who led all scorers with 23 points, with JR Ramirez following with 16 points.

UP NEXT

Southern Arkansas returns to action on Monday, November 27, for a 7 p.m. tip-off with Baptist Bible College. Live coverage links available at http://www.muleriderathletics.com.