KANSAS CITY — Trailing by 10 points with 4:33 left on Sunday evening, Henderson State staged a furious rally to force overtime and then outlasted Missouri Western 81-77 at the Central Region Challenge in Municipal Auditorium.

The win is the Reddies' first of the season and comes over a Griffons program that played in the NCAA DII Tournament last year.

Henderson had five different players score in double figures in the victory. Both Alvin Miles and Quawn Marshall, who was 10-of-12 at the free throw line, had 16 points to lead HSU. Xavier Davenport scored 13, Yuri Swinford chipped in 12, and Malik Riddle finished with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The Reddies trailed 39-34 at the break after a 3-pointer from Riddle at the buzzer cut into a deficit that was as large as eight points in the opening period. Missouri Western came out firing to begin the second half and opened up a 48-36 lead at the 15:12 mark with a 9-2 run.

HSU did its best to hang around over the next several minutes, but could never get the deficit any lower than eight points. Down 59-50 with 7:35 left, the Reddies made a move with a 6-0 run to trim the lead to 59-56, but a quick 7-0 response by the Griffons pushed their advantage back out to 66-56 with just 4:33 remaining in the game.

Needing a big rally to stay alive, Henderson got one, as two buckets from Miles and a basket from Riddle cut into the lead, 66-62, at the 3:07 mark. Suddenly within striking distance, Henderson took advantage of a missed free throw, a turnover, and a missed 3-pointer from MWSU over the next two minutes and used a free throw from Franck Kamgain and a clutch 3-pointer from Riddle to improbably tie the score at 66-66 with just over a minute left.

After going scoreless for over three minutes during the Reddies' 10-0 run, the Griffons finally answered with 1:10 to go as a 3-pointer put them back in front, 69-66. Henderson did not panic, and Davenport came up with a big tip-in on a miss from a Swinford miss to bring HSU back within 69-68 with 45 seconds on the clock.

Up by a point, Missouri Western was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line with 21 seconds remaining. The missed free throw loomed large, as Miles went down the court and hit a jumper with 13 seconds left to tie the game again, 70-70. The Griffons got a look at a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, but it drew iron and the contest moved into overtime.

Henderson controlled the extra period from the outset. Swinford got the Reddies going with a 3-pointer to give them a 73-70 lead — their first since a brief 29-27 advantage in the first half — and after another 1-for-2 trip to the free throw line for MWSU, Marshall connected on two freebies of his own to put HSU ahead 75-71.

Although Missouri Western trailed for the first four minutes of overtime, the Griffons refused to go away. Down 77-73, MWSU got back-to-back baskets to tie it again, 77-77, with 48 seconds remaining. The two buckets were the Griffons' last points of the game. 

On the other end, Marshall was fouled with 19 seconds to go for Henderson and calmly knocked down two more free throws to give the Reddies a 79-77 lead. Missouri Western went for the win with seven seconds left but missed a 3-pointer which was rebounded by Davenport. The senior guard was fouled and, much like his backcourt mate Marshall, stepped to the line and hit two clutch free throws to ice the big win for HSU.

Henderson out-rebounded the Griffons 42-38 in the victory and had 22 points off of turnovers compared to just 14 for MWSU. HSU's defense was stellar down the stretch and held Missouri Western to just 2-of-9 shooting in overtime. The Reddies were also superior at the free throw line, where they shot 25-for-29 and the Griffons finished just 15-for-22.

The Reddies will play at home for the first time this season on Wednesday when they host Texas College at 7:30 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.