RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Henderson State secured its fourth consecutive victory to remain in first place, highlighting the results of Thursday's Great American Conference men's basketball contests.
HENDERSON STATE 81, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 69
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After trailing by eight point at halftime, the Henderson State Reddies (11-6, 6-1 GAC) outscored Southern Arkansas (11-8, 4-3 GAC) by 20 points in the second half to captured an 81-69 win over the Muleriders at home on Thursday night. SAU shot over 53 percent in the firsthalf, but was limited to 38 percent in the second half, allowing the Reddies to regain with 9:53 remaining in regulation, a lead that was never lost from that point. SAU reached its largest lead of the game at nine points with 15:37 remaining in the second half, but the Reddies responded with 25-6 scoring run over the next eight minutes to take a double-digit lead of 11 points with 7:23 remaining. After the Muleriders battled back to a five-point deficit with 4:30 remaining, HSU quickly responded with five unanswered points to regain a double-digit lead, which it never lost throughout the final two minutes. The Reddies were led by a pair of 21-point performers, Andrew Ensley and DenzelLyles, while Rodney Hill led the Muleriders with 18 points.
ARKANSAS TECH 82, OUACHITA BAPTIST 67
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Tech (13-4, 5-2 GAC) improved to 7-1 at home and has now won five of the last six overall games after recording an 82-67 win over Ouachita Baptist (11-6, 4-3 GAC) inside Tucker Coliseum on Thursday night. The Wonder Boys used a strong first half shooting performance to outscore the Tigers 40-26 in the first 20 minutes. ATU made 15-of-30 field goal attempts, including a 5-of-13 first half outing from three-point range. The second half featured a back-and-forth battle, highlighted by OBU’s 53 percent shooting from the field. ATU had four scorers reach double-digits in the win, led by Johnie Davis with 19 and Matt Haney with 16. Ouachita Baptist’s Julian LaDay totaled a game-high 20 points.
HARDING 74, ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 66
SEARCY, Ark. – The Harding Bisons (9-8, 4-3 GAC) held the GAC’s second-leading scorer to just five points to help secure a 74-66 win over Arkansas-Monticello (14-5, 4-3 GAC) at home on Thursday night. UAM’s LA Farmer, who averaged 20.6 point per game before Thursday’s trip to Rhodes Field House was limited to a 1-of-12 shooting night for just five points, the other three coming from the foul line. On the other end, the Bisons shot 50 percent in the first half (18-of-36) and 44 percent in the second half to give UAM its third consecutive conference loss on the road. The Bisons made six more total field goals that UAM in just two more total attempts to account for the score differential. HU’s Bradley Spencer and UAM’s Sergio Crowe tied for the game-high in scoring with 19 points each. HU placed two others in double-digits, while UAM had two inaddition to Crowe’s performance.
SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 92, SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 68
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State (6-13, 2-5 GAC) had five scorers reach double-figures, while shooting almost 60 percent from the field in a 92-68 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State (11-6, 3-5 GAC) on the roadThursday night. The Savage Storm started the road victory by nearly making 70 percent of their shots in the first half, sinking 17-of-25 field goal attempts, leading to a 43-26 lead at halftime. Southeastern poured in 49 more points in the second half to maintain its double-digit lead throughout the final 20 minutes, reaching the 20-point lead mark with 5:38 remaining in regulation.Southeastern made 10 three-pointers, while also adding 20 points from the foul line to complete its balanced attack. Southeastern’s Zac Downing led all scorers with 27 points, while Chris Roussell added 20 points for the SavageStorm. Thomas Davis led Southwestern with 25 points.