SEARCY, Ark. — Henderson State's defense dominated on Saturday night in Searcy, as the Reddies locked down Harding in a 71-49 road victory.

Malik Riddle led HSU with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting and scored 16 of those in the second half. Tomislav Miholjcic also had a terrific game and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first double-double of his career.

It was a defensive-oriented first half on the road, as both teams struggled from the floor. Henderson (6-3, 3-1) shot 30% while Harding connected on just 29.6% of its looks through 20 minutes of play, but the difference came in turnovers and second-chance points. The Reddies outscored the Bisons a combined 26-4 in the two categories and took a 31-25 lead into the break. 

The lid began to come off the basket for Henderson to begin the second half. The Reddies connected on six of their first 11 shots from the floor, and got three-point plays from Xavier Davenport, Miholjcic and Riddle, to surge to their largest lead, 46-32, with 13:44 remaining.

A fourth three-point-play from Yuri Swinford, as well as driving buckets from Davenport and Riddle, pushed the advantage out to 53-35 for HSU at the 11-minute mark. The avalanche was on from that point forward, as three-straight buckets from Riddle powered another 11-6 spurt and gave the Reddies a commanding 64-41 lead with 7:21 to go.

Harding, which had been stifled all evening offensively, had no answer down the stretch. The Bisons were limited to just 27.6% shooting in the second half, and 29% for the game, as Henderson cruised to the finish line and improved to 3-1 in GAC play. 

The Reddies dominated in nearly every facet of the game on Saturday. They outscored Harding 46-22 in the paint, 37-14 in bench scoring, 23-0 in fast break points and 19-3 in points off turnovers. HSU also out-rebounded the Bisons 51-39 and led for over 39 minutes.

Henderson returns to action on Monday at 3 p.m. when it travels to Texas to face Dallas Baptist.