Contact: Houston Taylor
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas self-destructed in the second half and Henderson State outscored them 50-30 in the frame to roll on to an 81-69 win in Great American Conference action Thursday at the Duke Wells Center.
The Muleriders fall to 11-8 on the year and 4-3 in league play, while the Reddies improve to 11-6 and 6-1.
SAU led 39-31 at the half after shooting 53.8 percent on 14 of 26, and held 47-38 and 49-40 advantages at 14 minutes in the second half, but then the wheels fell off.
Andrew Ensley’s jumper sparked a 12-2 HSU run that gave them the lead for good at 12:08 for a 52-51 game on Denzel Lyles’ jumper. Henderson State kept pouring it on, extending it to a 24-4 run for a 64-53 advantage at 7:23. Southern Arkansas managed to cut it to a 64-59 margin with 4:30 to go, but the Reddies took off again and eventually held a 15-point lead before settling for the final margin.
Ensley and Lyles each scored a game-high 21 points for HSU. Jonathan Fitzgerald added 15 points, and Kajuan Watson finished with 13. Lyles pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Junior guard Rodney Hill (Shreveport, La.) led the Muleriders with 18 points. Junior guard Chris Davis (North Little Rock) scored 11 points, and sophomore forward Shumeecio Lark (El Dorado) chipped in 10. Senior forward Casey Cheshier (Frisco, Texas) was a point away from a double-double, scoring nine and grabbing a game-high 10 boards.
SAU took an early lead, but the game stayed tight with neither team holding more than a four-point advantage through the majority of the first half until Southern Arkansas scored the final five points of the frame for the eight-point halftime lead.
The Muleriders shot only 38.2 percent in the second half, hitting 13 of 34 to finish 27 of 60 for 45 percent for the game. They were 9 of 14 at the foul stripe.
Henderson State was at 54.8 percent on 17 of 31 in the second half, finishing 30 of 63 for 47.6 percent for the game. They connected on 16 of 25 free throws.
SAU did hold a 42-38 rebound advantage, but hurt itself with 23 turnovers that the Reddies converted into 31 points. HSU had only 12 turnovers.
Southern Arkansas hosts Arkansas Tech Saturday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. Tip-off for the game has been moved from the scheduled 4 p.m. start to 7:30 p.m.
