SHAWNEE, Okla. – The lower seeded Bulldogs scored 50 points and shot 61% in the first half of Saturday's Great American Conference semifinal to build a 50-24 lead at the half, before enduring a second half Southern Arkansas surge that saw the Muleriders cut the deficit to as few as seven points. SWOSU regained their composure and secured the 71-62 victory to advance to Championship Sunday for the first time since 2011-12.

Jaylan Williams was a big part of SWOSU's first half numbers. He scored 15 points – all from three-point shots. He finished 5-for-6 in the half to lead the way for the Dawgs. Alongside Williams was Damion Thornton, who scored 12 of his 20 in the first 20 minutes. Thornton found success creating his shots, with multiple step back jumpers and driving layups.

While the offense was the talk of the first half, the defense was forgotten about. The Bulldogs held SAU to 17% shooting in the first half and just five total baskets. The defense, paired with the offense, built a lead that SWOSU would need later on.

Out of the half time locker room, the momentum shifted. Southern Arkansas tightened their defense up and began to make shots. They produced a 25-6 scoring run that cut the lead down from 50-24, to 56-49 with 5:28 to play.

Back-to-back three balls by Williams snapped the Dawgs out of their funk and pushed them to the finish line. After that point, the margin did not get under nine points thanks to timely buckets and made foul shots.

SWOSU was outscored 38-21 in the second half and shot 27%, but it did not matter. They won the game and advanced to Championship Sunday for the first time since the GAC's first year of existence – the 2011-12 season.

Outside of Williams and Thornton, SWOSu got lifts from Kamden Gipson and Ben Smith who both had eight points apiece. Gipson led the team with four assists and DeAngelo Adkins grabbed a team best eight boards.

Sunday's championship will be against 4-seeded Southern Nazarene and will start at 1pm inside FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.