Henderson State made it two straight to open up conference play as the Reddies downed East Central 81-65, Saturday at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The Reddies improved to 7-5 overall and 2-0 in Great American Conference play. It's the first time Henderson has begun league play winning its first two games since the 2007 Reddies. That team went on to win the Gulf South Conference West Division title.

Five players scored in double-figures, led by Jonathan Fitzgerald's 16 points. Fitzgerald, who scored a career-high 25 points on Thursday against Southwestern Oklahoma, made his first five shots from the field and ended the game hitting 7-of-9 attempts.

Lester Johnson followed Fitzgerald with 15 points to go along with five rebounds, and four steals. KaJuan Watson added 12 points, while josh French and Donovan Walker added 10 points each.

After trailing by as many as nine points midway through the first-half, the Reddies went on a 20-3 run and built a 36-26 advantage at the break.

East Central, 3-9 overall and 0-2 in the GAC, pulled within five points at the 15:14 mark, but Henderson pushed its lead back to 11 on a pair of free throws by both Watson and Andrew Ensley along with a 3-point basket by Lyles.

The Reddies would never look back as Henderson hit 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

Henderson hit on 47 percent from the field sinking 27-of-58 shots. The Reddies had another great game from the foul line hitting on 81 percent from the charity stripe making 25-of-31 free throws.