ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Down by as many as 18 in the second half, Henderson State clawed its way to within a point of Oklahoma Baptist in the final seconds on Thursday night, but could not climb all the way back, as the Reddies fell to the Bison 83-78 at the Duke Wells Center. 

Alvin Miles led HSU with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Malik Riddle chipped in 16 points while Xavier Davenport had 14 and Yuri Swinford added 11.

Henderson (7-4, 3-2) shot 45.2% in the first half at home, but found itself down 41-33 at the break after OKBU went 8-of-16 from beyond the 3-point line in the first 20 minutes of play. 

The Bison looked as though they had taken a stranglehold on the game at the start of the second period, as they used a 21-11 run to seize a 62-44 advantage with 14:27 remaining. 

Facing a big deficit, the Reddies slowly began to chip away and used 3-pointers from Davenport and Riddle to fuel an 8-0 spurt. The quick run trimmed the Oklahoma Baptist lead down to 62-52 at the 12:11 mark. 

OKBU kept Henderson at bay for the next several minutes, but with the Bison up 69-58, the Reddies again made a charge. Three transition baskets from Davenport, as well as a jumper from Miles, again powered an 8-0 stretch for HSU, which helped cut the deficit down to 69-65 with just under six minutes to go.

The Reddies continued to claw their way back in the game's waning moments. HSU got within a single point on three different occasions in the last two minutes, but each time Oklahoma Baptist was able to score on the other end and increase the lead back out to three. 

With the Bison up 81-78 and 11 seconds left, Henderson had one last chance to tie on a deep 3-pointer from Miles, but after hitting six-straight shots to close the gap, the seventh missed for HSU. OKBU came up with the rebound and was able to salt the game away at the free throw line, ending the Reddies' valiant comeback effort just short.

Henderson shot 51% in the game and 55.9% in the second half in defeat. The Reddies out-rebounded the Bison 32-31 and outscored them 38-24 in the paint, but shot just eight free throws compared to 22 for OKBU.

HSU returns to action on Jan. 6 when it travels to Alva, Oklahoma to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m.