ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State used a balanced effort offensively and suffocating defense to defeat Mississippi College 74-60 in its home opener on Friday evening.

The Reddies (2-1) stormed out of the gate in their first contest of the season at the Duke Wells Center and used three early buckets from Quawn Marshall to take a 15-2 lead at the 15:09 mark.

After the Choctaws trimmed the deficit to 15-9 with seven-straight points, back-to-back 3-pointers from Jeremiah Toney and Xavier Davenport powered another 16-6 burst from the Reddies, which gave them their largest advantage, 31-15. Mississippi College could not cut into the lead in a significant way and HSU led 40-27 at the break.

Both teams came out cold to start the second half and combined for just nine points in the first seven minutes of the period. Leading 43-33, Henderson put together a 9-2 run, which gave the Reddies a 52-35 advantage with 11:17 to play. Although the Choctaws did come close behind a 15-6 stretch which cut the lead down to 58-50, HSU was never in danger and pulled away in the final minutes to win comfortably, 74-60.

Four different Reddies scored in double figures, as Chris Parker led the way for the third-straight game with 14. Raekwon Rogers had 13 to go along with 11 rebounds, Anthony Lupardus chipped in 12 and Rel Johnson finished with 10. HSU held Mississippi College to 37.5% shooting from the floor, which included a 1-for-11 performance from 3-point range. Henderson again showed its depth in the victory, as 10 different players saw the court for 10 or more minutes. 

The Reddies return to action on Monday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. when they host Texas College at the Duke Wells Center.