Box Score
The Henderson State men's basketball team fell 78-77 in a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon to NWOSU(7-17, 6-11 GAC) in Great American Conference action at the Duke Wells Center.

After falling behind 38-30 at the break, the Reddies attempt at a comeback fell just short, as Charles Wesley's stole a Ranger pass with five seconds remaining, but his runner in from the right wing glanced off the side of the rim as time expired.

HSU (10-13, 7-10 GAC)  put together balanced scoring in the first half, as three different Reddies each pitched in six points each.

Rashad Perkins had six rebounds to go along with his six first half points from the post position, while Reggie Murphy and Kevin Kozan also pitched in to lead the way for Henderson State.

Trailing by 5-to-10 points for most of the second half, HSU cut the score to 70-69 in favor of NWOSU after Wesley dished outside and Kevin Kozan knocked in a 3-pointer.
On NWOSU's next possession, Wesley stole the ball and found Reggie Murphy in transition for an easy layup, which gave HSU its first lead of the second half at the 4:23 mark.

With 52 seconds remaining, NWOSU pushed its lead back out to five on back-to-back buckets from Darrian Dempsey, making the score 78-73 NWOSU.

Missed free throws down the stretch proved costly for HSU, as the Reddies hoped to tie the score with 10 seconds remaining, but Wesley could only connect on 1-of-2 attempts to make the score 78-77.

Murphy and Wesley led in scoring for HSU, as each poured in 18 points. Murphy did the bulk of his scoring from the free-throw stripe, making 8-of-13 attempts, while Wesley was 5-of-8 from the field and knocked down all three of his 3-point attempts.

Kozan, Micah Walker, and Perkins all finished the game with nine points each, and Perkins ripped down eight boards.

The Reddies were out-rebounded 36-25, but had seven pilfers to just three steals for the Rangers.

Leading the way for NWOSU was Dempsey, as he scored 30 points on 9-of-13 attempts from the field.

The Rangers also had three other players in double figures, as T'aries Taylor and Laakeem Henderson each had 11, while, Adrian Motley pitched in 10.

Henderson State will look to rebound on the road a week from today, as they take on Southwestern Oklahoma in Weatherford, Okla. next Saturday.