Kaylon Tappin scored 20 points and Kevin Kozan added 19 as Henderson State opened Great American Conference play with a 76-72 win over Southern Nazarene, Thursday at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Henderson, 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the GAC, would hit 6-of-10 3-point field goals late in the second-half to assist in the win.

Kozan scored the first 8 points of the game draining a pair of 3-point field goals to put Henderson out in front 8-0.

The Reddies would lead by as many as 12 in the opening 20 minutes as Toney Foster would hit a trifecta and pair of field goals over a five minute span.

Southern Nazarene would go on a 14-0 run to take a 25-23 advantage at the 6:18 mark. Henderson committed six turnovers during a six minute stretch leading to 8 SNU points.

Henderson eventually tied the score at 34-34 by halftime as Tappin made four straight free throws to close out the half.

The Storm crashed the boards in the first-half outrebounding the Reddies 20 to 12 with Henderson having just one offensive rebound.

After some halftime adjustments, the Reddies did a better job on the boards matching the Storm with 25 in the half including 10 offense boards.

Henderson would convert on 44 percent shooting in the half making 17-of-39 attempts while the Reddie defense limited Southern Nazarene to 36 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Foster also had  a solid night for the Reddies with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Chris Hawkins scored 12 points and a team-best 7 rebounds

The Reddies finished the night shooting 45 percent from the field converting on 29-of-65 attempts while making 9-of-10 free throws.

The Crimson Storm hit on 25-of-63 from the field for 40 percent shooting and was 19-of-29 from the charity stripe.

Henderson State next plays host to Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday with tipoff set for 3 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.