ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Rel Johnson scored a career-high 26 points and Mike Fofana added 20 of his own – 15 of which came in the second half — to help Henderson State hold off Arkansas Tech 84-80 on Saturday afternoon at the Duke Wells Center.

Johnson was magnificent for the Reddies and finished 10-of-16 from the field. Fofana was held to just five points in the first 20 minutes of play, but exploded in the second half to finish with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Joshua Jones also had his best game of the year for HSU and chipped in 16 points.

In what was a tight game throughout, Henderson (12-5, 7-4), after trailing 40-39 at the break, used a 15-7 run to open the second half and take its largest lead of the game 54-47 at the 15 minute mark.

Arkansas Tech responded and used 11 points from guard Alex Brown in a span of two minutes to rip off a 13-2 run which gave the Wonder Boys a 60-56 lead.

The lead changed hands four times over the next several minutes of play, but with ATU up 76-73 with under six minutes left, the Reddies made a surge to take the lead for the final time, as a bucket from Anthony Lupardus and five-straight points from Johnson spurred a 7-0 run and gave HSU an 80-76 advantage with 4:07 remaining.

The Wonder Boys had opportunities down the stretch but missed three looks at the basket with under 30 seconds to play which would have tied it or given them the lead. Instead, Chris Parker secured the loose ball rebound in the waning moments and hit two free throws to ice the 84-80 win for the Reddies.

The Reddies out-rebounded Tech 45-31 on the day and had 19 second-chance points to just four for the Wonder Boys. The win gives Henderson its fourth-straight conference victory for the first time since 2012. HSU is now in sole possession of fourth place in the GAC standings.

Henderson returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Ada, Oklahoma, to face East Central at 7:30 p.m.