ALVA, Okla. — Henderson State got a season-high 13 points from Ryan Boyce, but was slowed by cold shooting and fell to Northwestern Oklahoma State 76-66 Thursday night on the road.

Boyce's 13 led all players for the Reddies, while both Alvin Miles and Yuri Swinford finished with 11. Xavier Davenport had a strong game defensively and finished with six of HSU's 11 steals.

The first half belonged to the home team in Alva. The Rangers started hot and jumped out to an early 14-6 lead while Henderson connected on just three of its first 10 shots on the other end. The Reddies (7-5, 3-3) hung around thanks in large part to Boyce, who scored nine of HSU's first 17 points.

A 3-pointer from Graham Chenault got the Reddies within 22-20 around the seven minute mark, but NWOSU controlled the final stretch of the half. The Rangers used a 15-4 run after Henderson cut the deficit to two and took their largest lead of the game, 37-24, with 2:15 to go until the break. 

Four late points from Miles helped HSU close to within single digits after the big run, but the Reddies trailed at halftime, 39-30. Northwestern hit six of its final seven shots in the opening period and shot 52% from the floor in the first 20 minutes. 

A tough shooting spell stung Henderson from the outset of the second half, as the Reddies hit just three of their first 12 shots and saw NWOSU increase its lead out to 53-38 at the 13:21 minute mark behind three 3-pointers.

Facing its biggest deficit of the evening, HSU finally saw shots begin to fall and began to chip away. The Reddies used 3-pointers from Quawn Marshall and Malik Riddle to fuel a 10-3 run which cut the Rangers' lead in half, 56-48, with 10:30 left.

The momentum for Henderson was short-lived, however. A quick 5-0 response from Northwestern over the next minute and a half increased its advantage back to 61-48 with 9:08 remaining. The answer from NWOSU proved to be a turning point, as although the Reddies scrapped, they were unable to get within single digits again until the game's final minute.

With 56 seconds to go, HSU got back-to-back buckets from Swinford and Marshall to climb within 72-64. The Rangers left the door cracked for the Reddies late with back-to-back empty trips to the free throw line down the stretch, but both times Henderson was unable to score on the other end and ultimately fell, 76-66.

HSU outscored the Rangers 25-16 in bench points, 30-20 in paint points and 21-14 in points off turnovers, but was doomed by cold shooting throughout. The Reddies shot 38.6% from the floor and were 4-of-22 from beyond the arc for the game. 

Henderson will look to bounce back on Saturday at 3 p.m. when it takes on Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Oklahoma.