BETHANY, Okla. — Henderson State got 14 points from Tomislav Miholjcic on Thursday evening, but could not overcome a big first half from Southern Nazarene and fell to the Crimson Storm 67-61 at the Sawyer Center.

Miholjcic's 14 led the Reddies and marked his fourth-consecutive game in double figures. He finished 7-of-8 from the floor while Alvin Miles added 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Henderson (11-7, 7-5) got off to a good start on the road in Oklahoma and got four quick points from both Miholjcic and Yuri Swinford to seize an 8-0 lead to open the game. The early momentum did not last long, however, as SNU answered with a big 24-8 run over the next seven minutes and flipped the script to the tune of a 24-16 advantage at the 8:55 mark.

The Reddies tried to slow the Crimson Storm's momentum and used a layup by Miles to trim the deficit to 26-21, but Southern Nazarene had another spurt in store. SNU put together its second game-changing run of the half — this time a 13-3 stretch — which gave the Storm their largest lead of the game, 39-24, with 2:31 to go until the break. 

After being held scoreless for over five minutes during the SNU run, Henderson was able to score the last two baskets of the period on buckets by Damian Dear and Franck Kamgain, but the damage was done, as the Reddies faced a 39-28 hole at halftime in a hostile environment.

Southern Nazarene was able to keep its double-digit lead for the opening portion of the second half, but with HSU trailing 45-34 at the 16:02 mark, the Reddies' defense began to rear its head. Needing a spark, Henderson locked SNU down and held the Storm to one basket over the next six minutes. The offense reaped the reward on the other end of the floor, as Miles, Swinford and Miholjcic combined for the next nine points and brought HSU within 47-43 with 10:24 to play. 

A 3-pointer from Malik Riddle with 8:06 remaining got the Reddies as close as they had been since the first half, 49-46, but just as Henderson looked ready to flip the game on its head, Southern Nazarene finally found its footing offensively. The Storm scored the next seven points to stymie the HSU momentum and regain a 56-46 lead at the 5:28 mark.

Trailing 60-48 with 2:30 remaining, the Reddies made one final push and were able to close the gap to 61-55 with 1:08 to go. After an SNU missed free throw, Henderson had a chance to make it a one-possession game late, but a turnover on its ensuing possession proved costly and the Reddies were unable to muster up an improbable rally.

HSU shot 44.8% from the floor to SNU's 37.5% and out-rebounded the Storm 40-30, but the Reddies were called for twice as many fouls as Southern Nazarene (22-11) and attempted half as many free throws in the narrow defeat.

Henderson returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when it travels to Shawnee to face Oklahoma Baptist.