MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The University of West Alabama men's basketball team snapped a five game losing streak with a 60-59 overtime win at Southern Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. The Tigers improve to 4-7 on the season as SAU – which drops its second straight - falls to 7-3 on the year.

Richard Dixon and Korielle Beavers posted career-highs in the victory. Dixon finished with 17 points while Beavers hauled in 14 rebounds. Ryan Fitch tallied 16 points with Alquan Mendenhall adding 11 in the win. Mendenhall hit all three of his 3-pointers late in the second half and connected on a pivotal pair of free throws in the final seconds of the contest.

The Tigers finished the contest shooting 40 percent from the field and 78 percent from the charity stripe. SAU connected on 38 percent of its shots from the floor in the loss.

UWA opened with the first six points of the game – holding the Muleriders off the board for the first four minutes. SAU tallied its first points at the 16:50 mark on a layup by Rico Lambert. The basket sparked a 9-3 run by the Riders – giving them their first lead of the contest at the 12-minute mark. The two teams exchanged numerous lead changes over the next five and half minutes before a Drew Faile 3-pointer gave the Red and White back the advantage in affair at 26-23. The Faile trey was three of the Tigers' final seven points of the half as UWA headed into the locker room up 30-29.

A pair of Fitch dunks extended the UWA lead to 34-29 and a jumper by Beavers put the Tigers up by seven points – the largest lead of the game for the Red and White. SAU nipped away at the deficit – eventually taking the lead at 44-42 on a layup by Channin Harden with 6:23 left in regulation. Following two of Mendenhall's treys in the closing minutes Harden converted an old fashioned three-point play to send the game into overtime.

West Alabama returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 30 when the Tigers host Henderson State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Live stats and live audio will be available at www.uwaathletics.com.