Tweet #theGAC  SHAWNEE, Okla. – In what was the game of the GAC Tournament thus far, the No. 6 seed Henderson State Reddies outlasted the No. 3 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm in quarterfinal action from FireLake Arena , 83-81. For the second time in three years, HSU will play for a chance to go to the Conference Championship Game.

Five Reddies scored in double figures in the winning effort. Zyon Patterson continued his terrific play as of late, going for a new season-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting and two blocks, including the game-saving rejection. The Crossett, Arkansas native recorded the most points from an HSU player in an opening-round GAC Tournament game since the 2019-20 season.

Tomislav Miholjcic recorded his sixth double-double of the season and first since early February with 16 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the first Reddie to notch a double-double in the GAC Tournament since Raekwon Rogers in the 2020 GAC Semifinals against Arkansas-Monticello.

Alvin Miles continued his superb point guard play, tallying a game-high seven assists to go with 15 points. Malik Riddle and Josh Mason totaled 12 and 11 points, respectively, with the duo combining to go 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

The instant classic showed each side knocking down north of 50.0 percent of its field-goals in the first half. Henderson kept up the hot shooting in the final 20 minutes, hitting 15-of-29 (51.7%) of its second-half attempts while the HSU defense held SE to just 32.4 percent (12-of-37) shooting from the floor in the second frame.

Both teams came out fighting as play saw six lead changes within the first 12 minutes of game time. Despite Southeastern building a five-point lead on four different occasions, the likes of Mason and Patterson kept the Reddies at the Savage Storm's hip.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Mason put HSU back out front with 7:54 remaining in the opening half, 27-26, prior to SE using a triple to retake the lead for the final time with 7:38 left until halftime. The Savage Storm went on to establish the largest lead of the game at 41-34 with just over four minutes left to play before intermission.

The Reddies responded by using a Miles layup followed by consecutive triples from Riddle and Patterson to bring the margin back down to one with 1:29 on the clock, 43-42. A Kamgain steal the next time down the court threatened to give Henderson its first lead since the 7:54 mark, but a missed trey from Riddle led to a made three-pointer from Southeastern to help bolster a four-point lead at the break, 48-44.

The first 16 minutes of second-half action was highlighted by Henderson making a push before Southeastern would hold the red-and-gray off with big shot after big shot. After the Savage Storm quickly opened up a 54-46 lead by the first media timeout of the second period, six straight from the Reddies cut the deficit to two before SE scored the next five points.

Four minutes later, a 64-62 game turned into 67-62 with another back-breaking triple from the blue-and-gold as Henderson was still left playing catch-up. From there, both teams traded baskets until Southeastern reached 73, which is where it stayed for nearly three and a half minutes until there was 4:23 on the ticker. The Reddies were able to get as close as one, but were unable to break through…yet.

Play stood at 73-72 for two minutes and 32 seconds before a pair of free-throws from Southeastern broke the game's scoring drought. Riddle knotted things up a minute later with his second three-pointer of the game, 75-75. After the Savage Storm connected on a lay-up on the next trip down the court, Miles gave the fans at FireLake Arena one better, forcing the and-1 to go down with 2:40 remaining in regulation for the Reddies' first lead since the 7:54 mark of the first half, 78-77.

Consecutive buckets from both sides, mixed with a 1-for-2 trip at the free-throw line from Miles, put the game at a deadlock with under a minute to play, 81-81. Patterson then came up with quite possibly his biggest play of the night, blocking a fast-break SE layup off the backboard with seven seconds left in regulation as the ball found Miles' hands for the final time.

A foul in the backcourt with five seconds left sent the point guard to the free-throw line, where this time he made good on both attempts for the 83-81 advantage. A last-second deep three from the Savage Storm clanked off the iron on the other end as the clock struck zeros, sending Henderson St. on to the GAC Semifinals.

The Reddies will meet No. 2 seed Southern Arkansas tomorrow night at 8 p.m. with the winner getting a chance to play for a GAC Championship Sunday afternoon. Henderson and SAU split the regular season series with each team getting a win on their home court