It was another classic battle between Henderson State and Harding, but the Bisons took advantage of a late second-half scoring drought to beat the Reddies 69-55, Saturday at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark.  

It didn't take long for the Bisons to show why they are the top 3-point shooting team in the GAC as Stefan Andelkovic hit a long range jumper just 12 seconds into the game. Tim Wagner followed with another long ball on Harding's next possession as Harding quickly went on top 6-2.

The Reddies, however, scored the next six points to take the lead before Andelkovic hit another 3-pointer.

The two teams would go on to exchange leads 11 times in the half with neither team having more than a one possession advantage.  

Harding, 10-5 overall and 7-4 in the GAC, hit six straight trifectas to begin the game but Henderson's defense forced 14 first half turnovers with the Reddies scoring 16 points off the miscues. The Bisons entered the contest averaging just 13.1 turnovers per game.

Additionally, the Reddies crashed the boards pulling down 13 offensive rebounds while Harding had just one offensive carom.

Despite having just one 3-point field goal in the half and shooting 33 percent from the field, the Reddies held a 30-28 lead at the break.

Harding went the final 6:02 of the half without a field goal while the Reddies hit 2-of-7 field goals down the stretch.

The second half began with Zac Ward putting the Bisons on top 33-32.

Kevin Kozan, who was held scoreless in the first 20 minutes, would later score back-to-back layups to give Henderson a 40-37 lead with 13:25 to play.

Harding would go on top for good at the 8:41 mark as Will Francis converted a conventional 3-point play to put the Bisons out in front 46-42.

Harding began to pull away in the final eight minutes as Henderson would go four minutes without scoring as the Bisons built a 53-44 lead with 3:36 left to play.

The Reddies were forced to foul, but Harding was on target from the charity stripe hitting 17-of-19 for 90 percent.

Ben Marello led Henderson with 15 points, while Chris Hawkins added 12 points to go along with 8 rebounds.

The Reddies, 11-6 and 6-5, finished the game shooting 33 percent from the field making 22-of-67 attempts while the Bisons were 21-of-44 for 48 percent.

While Harding converted on 8-of-19 from the perimeter for 42 percent, the Reddies connected on just 2-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc.

Henderson will head for the Sooner State next week as the Reddies travel to Shawnee to face Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday with the opening tip set for 7:30 p.m.