ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State fell behind by 17 with nine minutes remaining in regulation Sunday afternoon before fighting all the way back with a chance to take the lead late before Oklahoma Baptist was able to even the regular season series, 80-79.
 
Malik Riddle scored a season-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting while also hitting six of his seven free-throws. Franck Kamgain and Alvin Miles both contributed 16 while Miles logged a game-high eight assists.
 
The Reddies held the early lead with a game-opening three from Riddle and four points virtue of Miles to hold a 7-5 advantage three and a half minutes into play. Moments later, however, the Bison raced ahead for the slight lead before what would become an 11-point lead with 7:12 remaining in the opening half.
 
As HSU fought back for every point, a fast break three-pointer from OKBU put the visitors ahead by 10, 34-24 with just under four minutes remaining until intermission. From there, a triple from Ryan Boyce sparked a 15-5 run to close the half, even taking the lead briefly at 37-36, before the evenly-matched teams went into the locker room at a deadlock, 39-39.  
 
The first part of the second half was all Oklahoma Baptist as the Bison shot 58.1 percent through the first 10 minutes of the final stanza compared to HSU's 42.1 percent. That efficiency saw OKBU post its largest lead of the game with 9:06 on the clock, 70-53. Rather than throw in the towel, the Reddies vowed to fight back, and fight they did.
 
After trading baskets while getting a point back to bring the deficit to 16 at the 7:52 mark, Miles followed a Kamgain layup with an and-1. With that, the rally was on as HSU put together another seven unanswered to cut the Bison lead to four, 73-69.
 
A three-pointer from the opposition stopped the comeback momentarily before Henderson used a Miles layup, a Kamgain triple and a Kamgain fast break lay-in to tie things up to Oklahoma Baptist's dismay. Now with a little more than a minute remaining, OKBU was able to get four points back courtesy of big man D.J. Freeman as part of his season-high 23-points.
 
Tomislav Miholjcic returned things to a one-possession game with a lay-up off a Kamgain assist before the Reddie defense turned over Oklahoma Baptist's Paul King with a chance to tie or go for the win with 8.2 seconds remaining in the contest. That chance was taken via a Kamgain three that yielded a shooting foul, granting the Kansas City, Missouri native three free-throws for a chance at the win, leaving just 1.7 seconds on the clock.
 
After missing the first freebie, Kamgain swished the second as one point stood between the two programs. The third and final free-throw rolled off the rim as Oklahoma Baptist secured the defensive rebound and the win to even the season series.
 
After a whirlwind of a weekend with postponements due to weather and two games in three days, Henderson St. (8-13, 5-10) will have three days off before making the long trip to Weatherford, Oklahoma to face Southwestern Oklahoma State Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.