ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State had its furious comeback attempt in the final seconds come up inches short on Saturday as the Reddies fell to Arkansas-Monticello 81-80 at the Duke Wells Center.

Anthony Lupardus led HSU in scoring for the second-straight game with 19 points and four 3-pointers. Raekwon Rogers added 16 and eight rebounds, Chris Parker finished with 14 points and Rel Johnson had 13.

The Reddies (15-7, 10-6) trailed 43-37 at the break, but came out in the second period hot from the floor and out-scored UAM 36-23 over the first 14 minutes of the half to take their largest lead, 71-64, with 5:50 remaining.

Down by seven and needing a rally, the Weevils responded in a big way and hit five of their next six shots from the floor, as well as seven-straight free throws, to fuel a massive 17-3 run and seize a commanding 81-74 lead with 1:22 left.

Now starring into a seven-point hole with only 82 seconds to go, Henderson got a bucket to trim the deficit to 81-76 and immediately put its full-court defense on. The pressure proved to be too much for UAM, as back-to-back turnovers led to a free throw and 3-pointer from Lupardus which made it 81-80 in the blink of an eye.

Leading by a point with 33 seconds remaining, the Weevils coughed the ball up for the third-straight possession on a travel in the front court. The turnover gave the Reddies the ball with 23 second left and a chance to improbably win the game.

As the clock ticked down, Johnson got a wide open turn-around look in the paint, but it went off the back iron and was rebounded by HSU with 10 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Reddies committed just their sixth turnover of the half when they stepped out of bounds to give the ball back over to UAM with just 3 second left. Jeremiah Toney gave Henderson one last gasp when he stole the inbounds pass and fired up a fading jump shot as the buzzer sounded, but the prayer fell off the rim to ice it for the Weevils.

UAM shot 51.1% from the floor on Saturday — the highest shooting percentage by a Henderson State opponent this season. The Weevils also finished a perfect 14-of-14 at the free throw line on the afternoon. The Reddies' last five losses this year have come by a combined 14 points.

HSU returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 13 when it takes on rival Ouachita Baptist across the street at 7:30 p.m.