ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — The top two teams in the GAC standings will collide on Saturday with first place on the line when Henderson State hosts league-leader Southeastern Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.
REDDIES REPORT
- Despite enduring one of their coldest shooting games of the year, the Reddies (13-4, 8-3) fought past East Central 73-70 on Thursday to remain unbeaten at home this season and just one game out of first place in the league standings. Henderson shot just 34.3% from the floor but Rel Johnson scored 12 of the team's final 13 points down the stretch to hold off the Tigers.
- Henderson is tied for second place in the conference standings with Southern Nazarene at 8-3 in GAC play. Both HSU and SNU are just one game back of Southeastern Oklahoma State. A win on Saturday would put the Reddies in a tie for first with the Savage Storm and would give them the early head-to-head tiebreaker with both SOSU and SNU.
- HSU continues to top the GAC in numerous defensive metrics, including field goal percentage defense (38.8%), 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.6%), blocked shots (63 total, 3.7 per game) and steals (157 total, 9.2 per game). The Reddies are second in the league in turnovers forced per game (17.4) and turnover margin (+3.24), and are tied for first in scoring margin (+13.1). Potent on both ends of the court, Henderson is also the top scoring offense in the conference in GAC games (84.5 points per game).
- Numerous Henderson players rank among the GAC leaders statistically: Chris Parker is 10th in scoring (15.6 points per game) and ninth in assists (3.2 per game), Raekwon Rogers is third in field goal percentage (56.1%) and 11th in rebounding (7.0 per game), Mike Fofana is sixth in blocked shots (0.9 per game) and seventh in rebounding (7.5 per game), Quawn Marshall is second in steals (2.0 per game), and Anthony Lupardus is second in 3-point field goal percentage (48.6%).
- The Reddies are 9-0 at home this season and have won 20 of their last 23 games in the Duke Wells Center dating back to 2018-19. The last team to defeat Henderson in Arkadelphia was Southeastern Oklahoma State, who beat HSU 83-61 on Feb. 28, 2019.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
- The Savage Storm enter Saturday's showdown 15-3 overall and 9-2 in GAC action. They have won their last six games and are the No. 19 team in NCAA DII according to D2SIDA and are receiving votes in the latest NABC poll. SOSU is led by head coach Kelly Green, who is in his ninth season in Durant, Oklahoma.
- Southeastern has an incredible nucleus of talent which starts with senior forward Kevin Buckingham, who averages 20.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game on 57% shooting, and was the the GAC Player of the Year last season. The Savage Storm also have arguably the best point guard in the league, junior Adam Dworksy, who is second in NCAA DII in assists (8.9 per game), is shooting 52.2% from the floor and leads the conference in minutes per game (37.9). Not to be overlooked, junior stretch forward Kayo Goncalves averages 13.4 points per game and is shooting a blistering 50.8% from 3-point range.
- As a team, SOSU leads the GAC in field goal percentage (49.8%), assists (18.2 per game) and assist to turnover ratio (+1.6). The Savage Storm have hit 116 3-pointers in conference play this year, which is second-best in the league.
