MAGNOLIA, ARK. – The East Central University men's basketball team dropped a 60-64 decision to Southern Arkansas in the opening day of Great American Conference action for the 2016-17 season.

The Tigers (0-3, 0-1 GAC) saw the first double-double of the season from senior Ishmael Donzo, who tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Senior Braxton Reeves led the team with 17 points, while adding seven boards and two assists.

The Muleriders (2-1, 1-0 GAC) jumped out to an early five-point advantage before senior Donovan Halsel hit the first shot for ECU, with 17:43 left in the first half.  The Tigers then pushed forward to tie the game at seven in the next 30 seconds.  It was then ECU's turn to pull ahead, using a 5-0 run to take a 15-10 advantage, with 11:19 left in the stanza.

The Tigers held the lead over the next five minutes, but the Muleriders slowly fought back to force a tie at 22 (6:05) and take a two-point advantage (5:19).  Both teams kept fighting for control of the scoreboard the rest of the half and ECU went into the intermission trailing 29-32.

The second half started out slow on offense for the Tigers, as they didn't add a point to the scoreboard for the first 2:30 minutes.  During the span, SAU increased the lead to 12 (29-41) and didn't let the advantage drop below seven until the final seven minutes.

That's when the Tigers started a 6-0 run to cut the disadvantage to two (49-51) over a two-minute span.  ECU kept the game close over the next minute, but the Muleriders countered with a 5-0 run to push the lead back to seven (51-58), with 2:44 left.  The Tigers kept fighting and a 5-0 run by Reeves got ECU back within two (56-58), with just under two minutes to play.

The two-point deficit was as close as SAU would let ECU get in the final minutes of the game, before pulling away for a 60-64 win.

While the Tigers made more three pointers (5-2) and free throws (17-14) in the game, the difference came with five more made shots (19-24) and the free-throw shooting percentage.  The Muleriders went 14-of-17 from the charity stripe (82.4%), while ECU made just 58.6 (17-of-29) percent of their attempts.

The Tigers will stay on the road for the next game of the season, making a stop at Arkansas-Monticello, Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m.