Box Score

Henderson State's bid to beat the top team in the Great American Conference fell short as Arkansas Tech held on to beat the Reddies 58-56, Saturday in Russellville, Ark.

Trailing by a bucket with 14 seconds remaining, Taylor Smith's potential game-winning 3-pointer was off the mark and Reggie Murphy's put-back opportunity went wide as time expired.

Henderson State, 10-13 overall and 6-9 in the GAC, built a 29-21 lead at the half behind Kevin Kozan's 11 points including three 3-point field goals.

The Reddies pushed the lead to 34-24 early in the second half after a Smith 3-pointer, and maintained a 10-point margin until the Wonder Boys went on a 11-0 run to claim the lead with 9:08 to play after a 3-pointer by Clarke Overlander.

The two teams traded leads six times over the next seven minutes, but the Wonder Boys reclaimed a one-point 55-54 advantage with 1:48 to play on a layup by Marshawn Arnold.

After a pair of defensive stops, HSU's Deoirvay Johnson buried a jumper with 47 seconds to play to put the Reddies on top 56-55.

On Arkansas Tech's next possession, Tyler Friedel buried the eventual game-winning 3-point field goal with 14 seconds to play.

Kozan ended the game with 13 points to lead Henderson State, while Smith ended with 11 points and Ronald Lawson 10.

Clarence Willard scored 16 points, Arnold added 13 points, and Friedel turned in a nine-point effort, to lead Arkansas Tech.

Henderson State held a 35-31 rebounding advantage, but Arkansas Tech shot 41.3 percent to HSU's 37.7 percent.

Henderson State will next play host to Harding on Monday at the Duke Wells Center with tipoff set for 7 p.m. The game was originally to be played last Thursday but was postponed due to problems with the game clock.

The game will be sponsored by the Reddie Bookstore and all fans will be admitted free of charge.