After a two year hiatus, Henderson State returns to Bartlesville, Okla. to take on top-seeded East Central in the opening round of the Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday with tip-off set for 8 p.m.       

The Reddies will be attempting to win their first conference championship since 2003 when Henderson was part of the Gulf South Conference. Henderson also claimed the GSC Tournament title in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

The last time the Reddies were in Bartlesville was during the 2013-14 season when Henderson was the eighth-seed.
 
The Reddies opened the tournament with Arkansas-Monticello and stunned the top seeded Weevils with a 65-61 victory. In the semi-finals, Henderson upended Southern Arkansas 73-60 to advance to the championship game against No. 6 seed Harding. In a classic double-overtime affair, the Bisons held of the Reddies with the help of 16 3-point field goals to take the title 93-86. In that game Kevin Kozan scored 15 points for the Reddies.
Henderson has a 3-3 record overall in GAC Tournament play.         
             
Henderson enters this year's tournament with a 16-12 record. The Reddies tied for fifth-place overall in the league standings, their best finish since the first year of the GAC when HSU finished second. However, Henderson was on the short end of all the tie-breakers and the Reddies are seeded eighth.
 
"We are excited about the progress our players are making in our second year," said head coach Jimmy Elgas. "Winning more games in the regular season, moving up in the conference standings and qualifying for the post season tournament are all positive steps for Henderson State Basketball. While we are pleased with the notable progress, we feel our players are not satisfied and have much to more prove."
 
The Reddies rank fourth in the GAC in scoring averaging 79.6 points per game while opponents average 76.3 points per contest.
 
Kaylon Tappin leads the Reddies averaging 14.5 points per game. The junior from Little Rock has scored in double-figures 20 times including 20 or more points in nine games.
             
Kevin Kozan has been playing some of his best basketball in the last part of the season as the senior from New Lenox, Ill. has averaged 19.0 points over the last four games, scoring 20 or more points three times including a career-high 25 points against Harding.        

Chris Hawkins leads the league in field goal percentage shooting 61.8 percent from the floor. Hawkins has recorded five 20-plus point performances including a double-double against East Central earlier this year when he scored 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. The graduate student from Chicago, Ill. averages 12.9 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds.
 
Ben Marello has picked up his play in the second half of the GAC schedule averaging 12.5 points in the 11 games, compared to 9.7 points in first half. The sophomore from Port Orange, Fla. averages 10.7 points and 4.8 points per game for the year. In the two games against East Central, Marello scored 19 and 17 points while combining for 14 rebounds.
 
"The development of the leadership from our seniors combined with the improvement of our young players allowed us to compete and win two important road games last week," Elgas said. "Our culture of hard work, togetherness and toughness continuous to be a work in progress. However, as of late, we have been more consistent and that is something we are going to hang our hat on this week and the years to come."

East Central enters with 1 21-7 record overall, finishing GAC play with a 17-5 mark to share the league title with Arkansas-Monticello.

ECU is third offensively in the GAC average 81.0 points per game, and third defensively allowing just 72. 1points per contest.

The Tigers are a veteran team with six seniors including all five starters.   

Braxton Reeves leads the team averaging a league-best 22.3 points per game which includes 107 three-point field goals. The all-time leader in career 3-pointers, Reeves has made over 300 trifectas in his career and is successful on 45 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Reeves combined for 41 points in the two games against the Reddies making 6-of-14 from the perimeter.              

Ishmael Donzo is another big weapon for the Tigers averaging 11.9 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds. Donzo shoots 57 percent from the field for the season. He recorded a double-double in the first game against the Reddies scoring 17 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.     
           
Henderson's series with East Central is even at 12-12. The Tigers have won six straight over the Reddies including both games this year.                       
 
FACTS AND FIGURES     
• In the last five games, the Reddies are averaging 86.6 points per game with Kevin Kozan averaging 16.8 points, while Chris Hawkins is scoring 16.0 points per game.       
In the last three games, DJ Franklin has averaged 11.3 points in an average of 13 minutes per game.
 
• Henderson State averages 79.6 points per game including 75.5 points in GAC play. The Reddies season average is the most since the 1997-98 team averaged 89.4 points per game. Henderson's 13.2 turnovers per game is second best in the last 20 years. The Reddies averaged just 12.6 miscues last season.
 
• The Reddies are 14-2 when scoring 80 or more points in a game this season. Henderson has scored 80 or more points the last five games. Henderson's two losses include an 87-82 loss at Harding and a 98-81 defeat two days later to Arkansas Tech.
 
FOLLOWING THE GAME  
Complete coverage of Henderson play in the GAC Tournament will be carried on 106.9 FM KYXK Arkadelphia/Gurdon with Robbie Aaron and David Salley calling the action.
The Domino's pregame show will air 7:45 p.m.

In addition, the GAC Sports Network will provide broadband, high-definition video webcasts of all contests accessible from the GAC website and YouTube Live. The broadcasts will begin approximately ten minutes prior to each contest. Michael Westbrook and Joey McWilliams will provide the play-by-play for the webcasts. The GAC Sports Network is a joint production of the GAC and JBM Productions.

Live stats will also be available for each game.
 
Links for live stats, audio and video streaming will also be available via the HSU Athletics website at www.hsusports.com.