The Henderson State men's basketball team began its 2015-16 season on the road in exhibition play, falling 89-79 at Division I opponent Arkansas State in Jonesboro on Monday evening.

HSU got off to an impressive start, holding a 18-13 lead ten minutes into the first half as Kevin Kozan knocked down three three-point buckets and scored 11 of HSU's first 18 points.

The Reddies would head into the break trailing ASU 40-39, limiting the Red Wolves to 1-of-7 shooting from beyond-the-arc while knocking down 6-of-18 first half three-pointers.

Kozan led all first half scorers with 19 points, as the New Lenox, Ill. Product knocked down five first half three-pointers.

Freshman Ben Marello also pitched in eight points for the Reddies in the first half on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 makes from the charity stripe.

In the second half, ASU rushed out to a 56-48 lead over the span of seven minutes before HSU would cut the deficit to 56-52 after back-to-back buckets from Eric Dailey and Matt Panaggio.

ASU would respond, however, pushing the lead back out to 66-54 at the 10:12 mark on a Devin Carter layup.

HSU pulled back within four at the 7:10 mark on back-to-back buckets from Panaggio, making the score 72-68 in favor of the Red Wolves.

With 3:15 remaining, the Reddies cut the deficit to five at 80-75 as Zydrunas Jugurtis found a cutting Tavian Pomlee for an easy layup through the lane.

ASU would answer two possessions later, as Devin Gardner converted on an and-one opportunity to give the Red Wolves an 86-77 lead over the Reddies with 1:58 remaining and HSU would pull no closer.

Kozan led the way for Henderson State on the night scoring 27 points on 8-of-15 field goal attempts including 6-of-13 from the three-point line.

Panaggio also provided a strong double-double performance with 16 points on 7-of-13 field goal attempts and ripping down ten boards.

Rounding out double-digit scoring category for the Reddies was Jugurtis who pitched in 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field (2-of-2 from three.)

HSU finished the evening shooting 48 percent from the field knocking down 28-of-58 shots, while ASU shot an identical percentage making 31-of-64 attempts.

The Reddies out-rebounded the Red Wolves pulling down 39 boards to just 32 for ASU, but committed 34 fouls while ASU committed only 20.

ASU shot 24-of-36 from the free-throw stripe, while HSU was 14-of-18.

From the three-point line, HSU connected on 9-of-27 for 33 percent while holding ASU to just 3-of-13.

Henderson State begins 2015-16 regular season action on Friday as the Reddies travel to Dallas, Texas to take on the University of Mary, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.