ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State staged a furious rally in the final minute of regulation to force overtime on Saturday against Arkansas Tech, but the Wonder Boys prevailed in the extra period and defeated the Reddies 84-78 at the Duke Wells Center.
Alvin Miles had 12 points to lead four different players in double figures for HSU. Franck Kamgain finished with 11 while both Malik Riddle and Xavier Davenport had 10.
The Reddies (5-3, 2-1) led 31-29 at the half on Saturday despite leading for less than four minutes in the opening period. Henderson closed the half on an 8-4 run and out-rebounded Tech 21-13 through the first 20 minutes of play.
HSU's advantage was short-lived, as the Wonder Boys hit five of their first six shots to open the second half. The offensive burst powered a 14-6 run which helped Tech seize a 43-37 lead at the 15:43 mark. The remainder of the half for Henderson was spent trying to cut into Arkansas Tech's lead. The Reddies got within a bucket on five different occasions over the next four minutes, but could not overtake the Wonder Boys' advantage.
After keeping HSU at arms length, Tech got back-to-back 3-pointers to help build its largest lead of the game, 59-51, with 9:29 to go. Henderson refused to go away, however, and got a 3-pointer from Kamgain and a thunderous dunk from Ryan Boyce to fuel an 8-2 run which trimmed the deficit down to 61-59 with 6:16 remaining. The run from the Reddies was answered by a run from the Wonder Boys, who won the next five minutes of play 7-2 to seize a commanding 68-61 lead with only 59 seconds to go.
Needing a miraculous rally to stay alive, Henderson got one in the final minute. A quick 3-pointer from Quawn Marshall cut the lead down to 69-64 with 54 seconds left, and after Tech split a pair of free throws, a cutback layup by Boyce trimmed the deficit down to 69-66 at the 19-second mark. Another 1-for-2 trip to the line by the Wonder Boys after a quick foul left the door cracked for HSU, and Miles took advantage, as he went straight to the rim for a bucket that made it 70-68 with 10 seconds left.
With still two timeouts available, Tech decided not to call one in the back court on the ensuing inbounds play. Marshall capitalized and forced an ATU turnover which gave Henderson the ball with eight seconds to play. With time ticking down, the Reddies swung the ball around to Davenport, who turned down a 3-pointer and made an acrobatic layup at the rim with one second on the clock to improbably send the game into overtime. Davenport's game-tying bucket capped a 9-2 spurt in the final 59 seconds for HSU.
The Reddies tried to carry over they momentum into the extra period, and took their first lead in over 20 game minutes, 74-73, on a three-point-play by Marshall with 3:07 to go. Tech responded, however, and used an 8-1 run over the next two minutes to regain an 81-75 advantage at the 1:16 mark. HSU tried to stage another rally, but it was not to be, as Henderson finished just 2-for-10 from the floor in overtime and fell 84-78.
Henderson won the rebounding battle in defeat, 43-40, and saw its bench out-score Tech 40-17. Czar Perry led the Wonder Boys with a game-high 19 points and 15 assists.
HSU returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 7:30 p.m. when it travels to Searcy, Arkansas to face Harding.
