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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State begins the home portion of its 2023-24 season Thursday when Lyon College comes to the Duke Wells Center for the second year in a row. The Reddies and the Scots are set to tip-off at 6 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson St. returns to the Natural State after a two-day stint in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Central Region Challenge. The Reddies fell to Bemidji State, 76-63, before losing to St. Cloud State, 74-64. In the three appearances at the season-kickoff Central Region Challenge, HSU is 2-4 with all four losses coming against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) competition.
 
After scoring 22 points in the first game and 12 points in the second, Zyon Patterson currently paces head coach Jimmy Elgas' squad with 17.0 points per game while shooting 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field. After the opening weekend, the senior from Crossett, Arkansas, is sixth in the GAC in scoring.
 
Joining Patterson as the only player averaging double-digit points for the Reddies is Ken Lewis. After scoring just eight points in the opener against Bemidji State, Lewis tallied 15 against St. Cloud St. on just seven shots. The Olive Branch, Mississippi, native was hyper-efficient against the Huskies, knocking down six of his seven shots, including going 3-for-4 from long range. Lewis currently leads the league in field-goal percentage on a minimum of 10 attempts (90%) and three-point percentage on a minimum of four attempts (75%).
 
The staple of Coach Elgas-led teams remains true through two games as Henderson's hard-nose defense currently leads the league with an opponent field-goal percentage of 43.2 percent while being sixth in opponent three-point percentage (32.1%) On the flip side, though the Reddies as a team lead the conference in three-point percentage (41.7%), they have only attempted 24 shots from long range, which is the fewest in the GAC.
 
Henderson State is sporting a three-game winning streak over Lyon College, including last year's 82-50 victory, and has not lost to the Scots since the 1996-97 season. Under coach Elgas, the Reddies are 5-3 in home openers and 4-1 against non-conference opponents in such games. Last year's 56-52 loss to Arkansas-Fort Smith inside the Duke Wells Center was the first home-opening loss against a non-conference opponent in Elgas' tenure.
 
SCOUTING LYON COLLEGE
Lyon College begins a new era as the 2023-24 campaign will be the first season Lyon will compete in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) as a member of NCAA Division III. The Scots come to the Duke Wells Center with a 1-2 record under its belt. Lyon's only win of the season came at home against Ecclesia College, 91-80, as LC is 0-2 on the road. Saturday's contest will serve as Lyon's second straight exhibition game after falling to Louisiana Tech Monday, 100-43.
 
University of Arkansas at Monticello-transfer Kylon McCullough leads the team with 21 points per game, having scored at least 20 points in two of Lyon's three contests this season. Like the Reddies, the Scots boast just one other double-digit scorer in forward Nikola SaSaroga, who is averaging 10.3 points. SaSaroga scored in double-figures in each of LC's first two games before tallying just four points in his last outing. As a team, Lyon is averaging 77.7 points per game while allowing 83 points per outing.