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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Historical Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri will play host to the Henderson State men's basketball team as they begin the 2023-24 season for the third straight year with the Central Region Challenge.
 
The Reddies will open play against a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. Up first will be the Bemidji State Beavers Friday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. before meeting the St. Cloud State Huskies Saturday, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m.
 
REDDIES REPORT
Henderson State comes into the new season off a 15-15 season that saw HSU reach the GAC Tournament Semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Reddies are the only team in the conference with that many such appearances during that time span. After upsetting No. 3 seed Southeastern Oklahoma State, 83-81, Henderson fell to eventual Tournament Champion Southern Arkansas, 84-81.
 
Head coach Jimmy Elgas begins his ninth season in Arkadelphia with a new cast of assistant coaches. Assistants Maurice Heade and Jayce Cravens and student assistant Noah Ellis join the sideline as five new faces will don the red-and-gray: senior-transfer Malek Davis, sophomore-transfer Kristian Spencer, junior-transfer Chase Farmer, freshman Rece Hipp (Rose Bud HS) and freshman Colby Lambert (Fountain Lake HS).
 
Looking to lead the team on the floor this season is Tomislav Miholjcic and Zyon Patterson. The duo finished last season as the team's fourth and fifth leading scorers with Miholjcic seeing 10.6 points per game while Patterson added 8.0 points per game. Patterson came on strong towards the end of the 2022-23 campaign, scoring 15 or more points in five of HSU's final six games, while Miholjcic served as Henderson's leading rebounder with 6.7 boards per game.
 
This weekend will be the first time Henderson State will have played either Bemidji State or St. Cloud State in the program's history. In the last two years competing in the Central Region Challenge, HSU has left Kansas City 1-1 both times. Both wins, however, have come against MIAA competition with the Reddies being 0-2 against NSIC-member teams in the last two seasons.
 
SCOUTING BEMIDJI STATE
Bemidji State comes into the 2023-24 season off its third 20-win campaign, reaching the NSIC Tournament Semifinals before falling to then-(RV) MSU Moorhead, 78-77. The historic season had the Beavers tabbed sixth in the 2023-24 NSIC Preseason Poll. Senior forward John Sutherland was named the NSIC Player to Watch by the conference after averaging 19.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season.
 
The Beavers return their core from last season as senior forward Dalton Albrecht and sophomore guard Johnny Tennyson come alongside Sutherland to lead BSU. Albrecht finished third on last year's team with 14.0 points per game while Tennyson shot 43.7 percent (38-of-87) form beyond the arc. Bemidji State does bring in three transfers while welcoming seven freshmen onto the team.
 
SCOUTING ST. CLOUD STATE
St. Cloud State finished the 2022-23 season 10-18 overall and 7-15 in NSIC play in head coach Quincy Henderson's first year as head coach for the Huskies. Now in his second season, Henderson's squad was picked 14th in the 2023-24 NSIC Preseason Poll, headlined by graduate student Luke Taylor, who averaged 12.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season.
 
Returning alongside Taylor from last season's team is two seniors, one junior and two sophomores, including starters Matt Willert and Joe Mutimer. Willert averaged 13.9 points per game while shooting 35.3 percent from three-point range and Mutimer averaged 6.3 points per game. The Huskies do bring in one grad-transfer and eight freshmen.