WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Henderson State got a career-high 33 points from Kaylon Tappin and freshman Chris Parker came up with two big steals late as the Reddies rallied in the second half to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State 76-73 on Saturday afternoon.

The Reddies trailed for much of the game, but down 55-46 with 10:24 to go, Henderson put together an 11-3 run to trim the deficit to 58-57 with Tappin scoring nine of those 11 for the Reddies. SWOSU stretched the lead back to 63-59, but the Reddies kept coming, and after Tappin cashed in on three free throws, Josh Jones nailed a transition 3-pointer to give HSU its first lead of the second half, 65-63 with just under five minutes to play.

Henderson extended the lead to 68-63 on a layup from Chris Parker and a free throw from Matt Panaggio, but the Bulldogs would not go away and responded by taking the next eight points to seize a 71-68 lead with just 1:13 to play. After Tappin hit two more free throws to cut the lead to one point, freshman Chris Parker stripped SWOSU guard Jerry Hurt and found Jones on the ensuing fast-break to give Henderson a 72-71 advantage with 37 seconds to go.

SWOSU quickly brought the ball down the floor looking to retake the lead late, but again Parker came up with an on-ball steal, this time picking the pocket of the Bulldog's Charles Beauregard. Parker was fouled instantly, stepped to the line and drilled two free throws, giving the Reddies a three-point cushion, 74-71 with 22 seconds left. SWOSU did its best to make things interesting in the last 22 seconds, cutting the lead to 74-73 with two free throws, but Jones and Parker each hit one more from the line for HSU and the Bulldog's last second heave drew iron as the Reddies escaped with the 76-73 comeback win.

Tappin had a career-high 33 points to lead Henderson and was 18-of-21 at the free throw line. Parker added a career-high 17 with 12 of those coming in the second half. Jones was the Reddies only other double-digit scorer, finishing with 12 on 4-of-8 shooting. As a team, HSU got to the line 40 times and hit on 31 of those shots and also forced 19 Bulldog turnovers.

Despite shooting 23.3 percent from the field in the first half, Henderson trailed by just five, 35-30, at the break. The Reddies helped themselves by going 11-for-12 at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. Henderson turned things around offensively in the second half by hitting on 50 percent of its shots from the floor. HSU led for just five minutes and 37 seconds in the game.

The Reddies return to action next Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. against Texas College in their home opener in the Duke Wells Center.