ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas jumped out to double-digit advantage, Henderson State rallied to tighten the deficit to a bucket at the break and that first half action set the stage for a well-contested start to the second half in the Great American Conference opener as the tension percolated throughout the Duke Wells Center on Thursday night in Arkadelphia. The Reddies, preseason No. 2 in the coaches poll, withstood the Muleriders' efforts and found its groove shooting in the second half to pick up a 75-67 win behind 47 second-half points on nearly 60% shooting from the floor.
 
The contest saw seven lead changes and three tied scores in the second half alone with the final tie coming at 51 with 9:17 remaining in the game as Kris Wyche and Carel Ray Jr. each knocked down triple tries in consecutive possessions to even the action. Ninety seconds later, Jerry Carraway Jr. nailed a trifecta to give SAU a 54-53 lead. It would be the final advantage for SAU in the loss as Henderson State responded with a 13-0 run over 5:30 of action to lead 66-54 with 2:10 left.
 
Southern Arkansas would chisel its deficit to as few as six points down the stretch, while a transition three attempt that would have cut the Reddies' lead to a single possession was unable to find nylon in the final 30 seconds of play.
 
The Muleriders' first-half lead grew to as much as a dozen points through the game's first 10:30 of action which was aided by a 13-0 run with Gregory Hammond Jr. and LaTreavin Black each scoring four points in the momentum-grabbing sequence. Southern Arkansas held a 20-8 lead at the 9:36 mark, but the Reddies would manage to score twice as much as the Muleriders in a 20-10 effort that pulled the host to within two points of the SAU advantage at 30-28 entering the intermission.
 
Wyche led SAU with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting which included sinking half of his six attempts from deep. He grabbed a team-high seven rebounds as did Black who followed with 13 points. Hammond Jr. also scored 13 points on 5-of-7 from the floor. SAU was outscored inside by 16 points and lost the rebounding battle by two boards.
 
The Muleriders defended the Reddies well on the perimeter through the first half as HSU made just one of its eight attempts from deep. HSU took two less attempts in the second half than in the first but connected on three more as part of a hot shooting effort in the final twenty minutes of play.
 
Southern Arkansas welcomes Harding into the W.T. Watson Center for a GAC affair on Saturday, December 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.