BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Trailing by eight points with 1:14 remaining on Friday, Henderson State conjured up some late-game magic to keep its season alive.

The Reddies (21-8) ended regulation on a miraculous 8-0 run, and then scored the first eight points of overtime, to pull off a stunning comeback and defeat No. 6 seed UAM 89-83 in the GAC quarterfinals. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Weevils and advanced Henderson to the semifinal at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow against No. 2 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Raekwon Rogers was phenomenal for HSU and finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high five blocks. Chris Parker added 19 points and was 8-for-8 at the line, while Rel Johnson had 15 on 6-of-11 shooting.

UAM, who closed the first half on a 15-4 run to lead 42-35 at the break, was in complete control for the majority of the second despite shooting just 27.8% in the period. The lead for the Weevils never dropped below five points for the first 19 minutes of the half and ballooned to double figures on multiple occasions, including an 11-point advantage with 4:35 to go.

Henderson tried to fight back and cut the deficit down to 69-63, but a layup from Monticello after breaking HSU's press pushed the lead out to 71-63 with 1:14 to go in the game and seemingly ended any hope of a comeback. The Reddies had other plans, however, and got back-to-back putbacks from Rogers and Johnson, followed by a backcourt steal and two free throws from Parker, to bring the lead down to 71-69 at the 53 second mark.

Able to play the game out, Henderson did just that, and got a big stop, followed by another acrobatic layup from Rogers, to improbably tie the score at 71-71 with 16 seconds remaining. UAM had a chance to win the game in regulation after blowing the lead, but HSU's defense stood tall once again, as Rogers blocked the initial shot and the follow up missed to send the contest into overtime.

The tidal wave of momentum carried over into the opening minutes of overtime for Henderson. The Reddies scored the first eight points of extra time, four of which came from Rogers, to cap a staggering 16-0 run and seize a 79-71 lead with just 2:24 left. 

The Weevils, who got behind by as many as nine points in overtime, made things interesting down the stretch and cut the lead down to four with 39 seconds to go, but HSU was an excellent 12-for-14 at the free throw line in the extra period and went 4-for-4 in the waning seconds to close out the stunning win.

Henderson was out-scored 23-13 in transition points and 28-17 on second-chance points, but scored 20 more points in the paint than UAM (44-24) and shot a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor in the last five minutes.

Saturday's contest against Southeastern Oklahoma is the third GAC semifinal appearance in program history for the Reddies and their second in the last two seasons.