MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Henderson State had its worst shooting game of the season in its first meeting with Southern Arkansas back in November. That was not the case on Thursday night.

The Reddies (15-6, 10-5) shot a torrid 58.8% from the floor and were 8-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half to outpace SAU 95-80 at the W.T. Watson Center. It was HSU's best shooting game of the year against an NCAA DII opponent. 

Six players finished in double figures for Henderson. Anthony Lupardus led the way with 18 points and hit five 3-pointers, Mike Fofana had 17 and was 8-of-9 at the line, Rel Johnson chipped in 16, Raekwon Rogers added 13, Chris Parker turned in 12 and eight assists, and Chris Owens had 10 off of the bench for the Reddies.

Henderson shot 50% from the floor in the first half and had a 40-31 lead with three minutes until the break, but SAU closed the period on a 10-3 spurt and hit a deep 3-pointer just before the horn to cut the Reddies' lead down to 43-41 at halftime.

The opening minutes of the second half belonged to Henderson, as the Reddies used a 16-5 run behind 3-pointers from Parker and Johnson to open up a 59-46 lead at the 16 minute mark.

The lead got as large as 15 points for HSU with under 12 minutes remaining, but the Muleriders did their best to fight back and forced three-straight Reddies turnovers to cut the deficit down to 74-66 with 8:59 left. Needing to stem the tide, Henderson turned to Lupardus, who knocked down one of his five 3-pointers to reestablish a double figure lead and stop the bleeding.

The Reddies' hot shooting helped keep SAU at bay but the knock-out blow came with five minutes to go. Leading 81-71 and facing a final rally from the Muleriders, HSU got back-to-back 3-pointers from Parker, then another from Lupardus on the third trip down, to seize its largest advantage, 90-74 with under three minutes remaining. The barrage of threes iced it for Henderson, who cruised to its 10th GAC win of the year.

HSU, who shot just 31.7% in its first meeting with Southern Arkansas, shot 69.6% in the second half on Thursday and held SAU to 32.3% shooting in the final 20 minutes. The Reddies had 17 assists on 30 made baskets in the game and scored 28 points on 15 Mulerider turnovers. 

Henderson returns to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. when it hosts Arkansas-Monticello at the Duke Wells Center.