Henderson State survived a second-half surge by Northwestern Oklahoma as the Reddies beat the Rangers 80-77, Saturday at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Ark.

With the win, the Reddies improved to 10-2 overall and 5-1 in the Great American Conference. The victory was the sixth straight, with Henderson now 8-0 at the Duke Wells Center this year.

Kaylon Tappin tied his career-high scoring 32 points, including going an amazing 17-for-18 at the foul line.  

The Reddies led by as many as 16 points early in the second half, but Northwestern Oklahoma would slowly make its run and would tie the game at 77-77 with 37 seconds remaining as Hunter Frisby came off the bench and hit a 3-point field goal from the left wing.

On Henderson's next possession, Tappin missed a layup attempt but was able to get the offensive rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds left to play.

The junior from Little Rock would sink both free throws to put the Reddies up by a bucket.

The Rangers would go for the win, but Cody Halvorson's 3-point attempt was off the mark and Henderson would get the rebound.

Eric Dailey made one of two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to put the game away for the Reddies

Henderson got off to a sluggish start as Northwestern Oklahoma would take a 24-18 lead midway through the first half behind 6 points from Adrian Motley and a pair of 3-point field goals by Cody Halvorson.

The Reddies would get a spark from Brad Nairn and Matt Panaggio as the two would send Henderson on 14-5 run to end the half.

Nairn would rip down six rebounds and score five points, while Panaggio fought his way to eight boards, scoring four points.

Kevin Kozan would provide Henderson with a pair of 3-point field goals to help the Reddies take a 38-35 lead at the half.

After scoring just seven points in the first-half, Tappin would score his next 17 points in the first six minutes of the second-half before the Rangers began their run.

The Reddies were limited to just 9-of-25 shots from the floor for 36 percent in the final 20 minutes, but managed to make 23-of-26 free throws in the half.
 
Meanwhile, the Rangers hit 53 percent from field in the half making 18-of-34 field goals.

Kevin Kozan was the only other Reddie to reach double-figures with 11 points.

Nairn finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds, while Panaggio had 6 points and 11 boards.

Henderson State will next play host to Southern Arkansas on Thursday with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center.