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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After spending four days in Oklahoma, the Henderson State men's basketball team returns to the confines of the Duke Wells Center for the season's first meeting with Northwestern Oklahoma State Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson picked up its biggest win of the season during its most recent trip to the Sooner State, defeating Oklahoma Baptist, 75-72. The Reddies trailed by 11 points in the second half before mounting a comeback, thanks in part to Franck Kamgain scoring all 17 of his points in the final 20 minutes of game action. Tomislav Miholjcic recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
 
After scoring 10 points against Southern Nazarene two days later, Kamgain became just the sixth HSU player in the Great American Conference era to have scored 10 or more points in 10 consecutive games. Kamgain, who leads the team with 13.7 points per game this season, is one point shy of having scored in double figures in all 12 games after putting up nine points against Minnesota St. in the second game of the season.
 
Henderson's 48-point output against Southern Nazarene snapped a three-game scoring streak of 75 points or more for the Reddie offense. On defense, HSU continues to present one of the premier units in the league, holding teams to 67.1 points per game, which is fourth in the conference and 63rd out of 290 Division II teams.
 
Sitting at 4-2 in GAC play and fourth in the conference standings, Henderson has a chance to go on a bit of a run with five of their next seven opponents currently below .500 in the league. Those five teams have a combined GAC record of 8-22. Since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, HSU is 9-2 against those five programs, including winners of three of the last four against NWOSU.
 
The Reddies have enjoyed success over the Rangers since Jimmy Elgas took over head coaching duties in 2015. Under Elgas, HSU has never lost to Northwestern in Arkadelphia and has an 8-4 record against them in his seven full seasons. Thursday will be the nineteenth all-time meeting between the two programs with Henderson leading the series, 10-8.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA ST.
The Rangers come to Arkadelphia off their first conference win of the season after defeating Arkansas-Monticello, 82-74. That victory came at a much-needed time as NWOSU had lost five of its last six games prior to meeting the Boll Weevils. Thursday will be Northwestern's third road GAC game of the season after dropping the first two away from Alva.
 
Northwestern does lay claim to Chaminade transfer Malik Parsons, the conference's leading scorer. Through 10 games, Parson is averaging 22.6 points per game and has scored in double figures in each outing. The 6'3" guard is shooting 54.2 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from long range. Graduate student guard Brian Free backs up Parsons with 14.9 points as the only other Ranger to average over 10 points.
 
With the help of Parsons and Free, Northwestern is averaging 76.8 points per game, which is third in the GAC. Where both NWOSU and HSU excel is on the offensive glass with the Rangers averaging 11.9 offensive boards per game to the Reddies' 11.6 for third and fourth in the conference, respectively. The difference may come down to defensive rebounding, which Henderson holds the per-game edge, 25.4 to 23.9.