ARKADELPHIA -- Henderson State's men's basketball team combined hot shooting with strong play from its bench to run away with an 82-69 win over Ouachita Baptist in the first installment of the Battle of the Ravine at Bill Vining Arena Thursday night.
Mike Fofana led the Reddies (11-5, 6-4 Great American Conference) with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting with four rebounds, Chris Parker added 15 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc and Anthony Lupardus added 12.
Ouachita Baptist (6-7, 3-6) saw its only lead of the game just 1:22 into the first half as Wesley Franklin drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key after a pass to Terrence Parker bounced off the forward's face, allowing Mahlon Martin to grab the ball before dishing out to Franklin.
The Reddies then went on a 14-2 run by the 12:15 mark of the first half before a Matthew Ward trey sparked an 8-2 run to pull within 16-13 with 10:44 to go. A pair of 3-pointers by Rel Johnson followed by a pair of free throws by Fofana pushed the Reddies' lead back out to 11 with 8:17 left in the half.
The Tigers went on a 12-5 run to cut the spread down to 29-25 with just under 5 minutes left before halftime, but the Reddies caught their breath during the 30-second timeout, pulling to a 10-point lead on an 8-2 run capped by a fast break trey by Parker at the 3:46 mark. The score remained unchanged until Martin hit a jumper in the paint to put the Tigers within 37-29 at the half.
Henderson State opened the second half on an 8-2 run to pull to a 45-32 lead with 3:07 off the clock in the period, but a Raymond Harris trey and Kendarious Smith layup killed the Reddies' momentum as the spread dropped into single-digits. The Reddie lead bounced around anywhere from 8 to 11 points before an 8-0 run put the Tigers within 54-51 with 11:07 to go.
Ouachita Baptist pulled within two points twice before the Reddies closed the game on a 13-5 stretch in the final 4:41 to secure the win.
Smith led the Tigers with 15 points on 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range and seven rebounds with Martin and Matt Stanley adding 14 points each. Stanley pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds, and Martin shot 3-for-7 from distance.
The Reddies will close out a four-game stretch in Arkadelphia this afternoon at 3 p.m. as they host Arkansas Tech (4-11, 2-7) at the Duke Wells Center. The Tigers close out a four-game home stretch as they host Arkansas-Monticello (10-5, 6-3) at 3 p.m. at Vining Arena.
Sports on 01/19/2019