MAGNOLIA, Ark. — Henderson State shot just 34.4% in the second half on Saturday afternoon and its furious late rally came up short in a 68-66 road loss to Southern Arkansas. 

After shooting 52.2% in the first half and making eight of its first nine shots, the Reddies went cold in the second and were just 11-of-32 from the field in the final 20 minutes. HSU also had little luck from beyond the arc in the loss and finished just 3-for-22 from the 3-point line.

Damian Dear led Henderson with 15 points in defeat. Malik Riddle was in double figures for the sixth-straight game with 14, Xavier Davenport had a career-high 13 and Raekwon Rogers added 11 with nine rebounds for HSU. 

Southern Arkansas, who led 40-35 at the break and by as many as 11 points in the second period, seemed in control down the stretch of the game and held a 68-58 advantage with 2:04 remaining. However, despite its offensive struggles, Henderson made a frantic last-gasp effort and put together an 8-0 run behind three transition baskets from Dear, Davenport and Riddle, to close the gap to 68-66 with 6.4 seconds to go. SAU missed back-to-back front ends of one-and-one free throw opportunities to open the door for HSU.

After fouling once again to put the Muleriders on the line, the Reddies watched SAU miss its third-straight front end free throw. Jeremiah Toney tracked down a long rebound for Henderson and the ball ended up in Dear's hands as the final seconds ticked down, but he could not get a clean look and his heave from 40 feet was off the mark to end the valiant rally in bitter fashion.

The Reddies held SAU to just 36.8% shooting for the game but were out-rebounded 44-38 and 18-11 on the offensive glass. All three makes for HSU from behind the 3-point line came in the first six minutes of the game. Henderson missed 19-straight 3-pointers to end the game after starting 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.

HSU has a quick turnaround and will host rival Ouachita Baptist at 7 p.m. on Monday night in the Duke Wells Center.