ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — An early lead did not hold up for Henderson State on Saturday afternoon, as Southern Arkansas was hot from deep and rallied to defeat the Reddies 73-68 at the Duke Wells Center.

Damian Dear led HSU with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Raekwon Rogers finished with 18 points and Malik Riddle added 10 to round out the double figure scorers for Henderson.

The Reddies started quickly at home and raced out to a 27-14 lead at the 7:26 mark of the first half after an and-one from Rogers. Trailing by 13, Southern Arkansas began to climb back using the 3-point shot. The Muleriders hit five threes over the remainder of the period, including three-in-a-row on their last three possessions of the half, to close on a 21-10 run and trim their deficit at the break to just 37-35.

Henderson shot 50% in the first 20 minutes compared to just 35.5% for SAU, but eight of the Muleriders 11 first half field goals were 3-pointers which allowed them to stay in the thick of it. HSU missed six of its final eight shots from the floor after leading by 13 points.

SAU built momentum at the start of the second and opened up a 49-45 lead after six minutes of play. The Reddies answered with four points from Rogers, as well as buckets from Dear and Graham Chenault, to go on an 8-2 spurt and regain a 53-51 advantage with 10:18 left. It would be Henderson's last lead of the game.

A quick 7-0 response from Southern Arkansas over the next two-and-a-half minutes helped the Muleriders regain a 58-53 lead — their largest of the game. HSU refused to go away and scored the next five points to tie the game at 58-58 behind a 3-pointer from Riddle and a layup from Dear.

It was a dogfight down the stretch and the game was tied three times in the final seven minutes. Each time the Reddies tied it, however, SAU answered with a basket to maintain their one possession advantage. Southern Arkansas never had more than a one-score lead until under a minute remaining.

With Henderson down 69-67 and less than 30 second to go, a hand check foul on Quawn Marshall gave SAU an easy two at the free throw line to extend its lead to 71-67. A missed 3-pointer on the other end for HSU and two more Mulerider free throws effectively ended it, as Southern Arkansas iced the game at the line.

The Reddies shot 44% in the game while SAU shot 40%, but HSU was just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc while the Muleriders hit on 11 of their 22 attempts from deep. Southern Arkansas won the battle on the glass 38-30 and out-rebounded Henderson 15-8 on the offensive glass.

HSU returns to action on Monday night when it travels across the street to take on Ouachita Baptist at 7:30 p.m.