Box Score

Trailing 44-35 at halftime, the Henderson State men's basketball team mounted a furious second half comeback at Ouachita Baptist Thursday night in a Great American Conference matchup, but came up just short, falling 80-78 in the second installment of the Battle of the Ravine.

HSU (10-15,7-12 GAC) fell behind 64-49 at the 11:48 mark on a pair of Justin McLeary free throws, but went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to climb back within six.

The Reddies cut the Tiger lead to four with just under four minutes to play, as Reggie Murphy put back his own miss to cut the OBU lead to 75-71. Murphy then cut the deficit to two on another layup making the score 77-75 at the 2:27 mark.

The senior from Los Angeles, Calif. had a monster night, leading the Reddies in scoring with 30 points and pulling down 10 boards. He also rejected four OBU shots and nabbed two steals.

The teams would go two possessions each without scoring, and after OBU pushed the lead back out to five on free throws from Colt Fason and Micah Delph with just seconds remaining, Aaron Cooper knocked home a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining.

OBU (20-4, 16-3 GAC) was able to run out the clock on the inbounds pass, however, and came away with the victory in the Battle of the Ravine thriller.

Cooper pitched in 17 points on the night, going 5-of-10 from the field and hitting two 3-pointers.

Micah Walker contributed 5 points, 5 assists, and 8 boards as well.

Leading the way for the Tigers were four players in double-figures, highlighted by Fason with 18 and Tirrell Brown with 16.

Delph pitched in 15 points while Jerron Smith had 11.

The Reddies won the rebounding battle, pulling down 34 boards to 28 for the Tigers, but OBU dished out 20 assists to just 9 for HSU.

On the night, HSU shot 28-of-60 from the field for 47 percent, while OBU was 29-of-56 for 52 percent.

Henderson State knocked down 18-of-27 free throw attempts, while OBU connected on 16-of-19.

The Reddies will return to action for their final game of the season on Saturday afternoon against Southern Arkansas, with tipoff set for 3 p.m.

It will be Senior Day at the Duke Wells Center, as Murphy, Walker, Andre Prince, Ryan Yeates, and Kelvin Dixon will be recognized for their efforts in their careers at Henderson State.