MONROE, La. — Henderson State hung with Division I Louisiana-Monroe for most of the first half in Thursday night's exhibition game, but the Warhawks pulled away in the second to defeat the Reddies 90-63 in the first action of the 2018-19 season for both teams.

The Reddies got off to a good start on the road and used seven early points from Chris Parker to grab an 11-7 advantage at the first media timeout.

ULM retook the lead 19-18 on a 3-pointer at the 10:55 mark, but a quick bucket from Raekwon Rogers moments later put Henderson back in front, which is where it stayed for the next five minutes as it built a lead as large as 27-21.

The Warhawks kicked it into gear and tied the game 31-31 with 4:44 to go in the first half, then used a big 12-2 run late in the period to take a 43-33 lead into the break.

ULM got things rolling at the start of the second, as it open with a 5-0 spurt to stretch the advantage out to 15 points. The Reddies continued to hang around for the first ten minutes of the half, but with ULM leading 55-41 with 13:05 to play, the Warhawks finally pulled away behind a 21-9 run and ultimately coasted to the finish and take it 90-63.

Parker was the catalyst for Henderson offensively, as he finished with 14 points. Rogers added 12 of his own on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and chipped in 9 rebounds.

The Reddies' first regular season game comes on Friday, Nov. 9, when Henderson faces the University of Mary at 5 p.m. in Dallas, Texas.