Henderson State erased a 16 point first half deficit and had three players in double figures, but junior Treasure Evans hit a long, contested shot with 2.4 seconds remaining to give Arkansas-Monticello a 70-68 win over Henderson State on Saturday afternoon in Arkadelphia.

UAM got off to a hot start in the first quarter and jumped out to an early 25-13 lead on the Reddies at the end of one, then extended that lead to 31-15 with 7:03 left in the second. From there, Henderson began to chip into the lead and got a spark from sophomore Torrie Thompson, who buried four 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of the quarter to help the Reddies close the gap to 40-34 at the half and carry momentum into the locker room.

The Blossoms stemmed the Reddie's tide at the start of the third quarter as they scored the first two baskets of the period to push their lead back out to 10.

Henderson, however, kept clawing back into the game. Down 48-38 with just under eight minutes remaining in the quarter, the Reddies ripped off a huge 18-4 run, which included holding UAM scoreless for almost six minutes, to take the lead 56-52 heading into the game's final 10 minutes.

Monticello would not go away, though, and answered the big Henderson run by scoring the first five points of the fourth to retake a 57-56 lead. For the rest of the quarter it was neck and neck as neither team was able to grab momentum from the other. With 30 seconds remaining and the Reddies down 68-66, freshman Hailey Estes was fouled and knocked down two clutch free throws to knot things up at 68-68 and set things up for one final play from the Blossoms.

After a timeout, UAM held for the final shot of the game, and despite solid perimeter defense from Brittany Branum on the final shot, Evans hit a long, contested two from the top of the key to give UAM the lead with 2.4 seconds left. Henderson had one final opportunity off of the inbound, but could not get a shot off and fell in a heartbreaker 70-68.

The loss drops Henderson to 6-2 in the GAC on the year, with the two losses coming by a combined seven points. Pink Jones led the Reddies with 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Hailey Estes recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 boards. Torrie Thompson also had a strong game for Henderson, scoring 15 points and pulling down nine rebounds.

The Reddies won the rebounding battle 39-38 with a bigger team and forced 18 Blossom turnovers, but only shot 35 percent from the floor for the game in defeat.
Henderson's next game is on the road Monday at 5:30 p.m. against rival Ouachita Baptist.