Henderson State got a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds from Chris Hawkins, 19 points from Ben Marello and 16 points from Toney Foster, but it was not enough, as the Reddies fell to East Central 76-71 on Thursday night in Ada, Oklahoma, in their first Great American Conference road game of the year.

The Reddies played well in the first half despite two starters, Kevin Kozan and Hawkins, only playing two minutes each due to foul trouble. As a team, Henderson shot 52 percent in the first half and trailed by just three at the halftime break, 36-33.
 

The start of the second half was all Tigers, as they unloaded a 28-12 run to open up a 64-45 advantage on the Reddies with 12 minutes to go in the game. Henderson would not quit, and slowly began to chip away at the Tigers lead. They cut the deficit to six with a minute remaining and three with just under ten seconds left, but ultimately ran out of time, and fell 76-71, despite outscoring ECU 26-12 in the final portion of the second half.
 

Henderson shot well from the free throw line on the night, going 20-27 at the stripe, good for 74 percent as a team. They also got 18 bench points and forced 16 Tiger turnovers in defeat. The loss drops HSU to 2-1 in the GAC and 4-2 on the year.
 

The Reddies' next game is Saturday at 3 p.m. in Durant, Oklahoma, against Southeastern Oklahoma State.