ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - For the second time in three days, Henderson State used a big second half to finish 2-0 on the week. After trailing by seven at the break, the Reddies outscored Oklahoma Baptist 49-37 over the final 20 minutes for the 82-77 victory.

Henderson (5-6, 4-2 GAC) made 19-of-33 (57.6%) second-half shots to help fuel the comeback, including connecting on 9-of-11 free-throws during that time. Oklahoma Baptist, meanwhile, made just three free-throws on the evening despite its 12 attempts.

Five Reddies scored in double figures, led by Zyon Patterson and Malek Davis with 19 points and six assists each. Henderson used clutch buckets from Patterson and Davis, plus a key offensive rebound from Patterson, to help seal the deal. As an offense, 18 assists also matched a season-high for the team.

Oklahoma Baptist started out the game hot from deep, hitting three of its first six attempts for the early 17-10 lead at the first media timeout six and half minutes into game action. The Bison expanded that lead to eight at the next media break, 23-15.

Six straight for the red-and-gray following the pause in play helped HSU climb back to within four at the 7:12 mark of the first half, but OKBU grew the lead back to nine as they led for the final 16:03 of first-half action. Henderson was staring a 40-33 deficit in the face heading into the locker room.

Similar to Thursday night, Henderson St. opened up the second half strong and fast, erasing the seven-point deficit within the first two and half minutes, scoring nine of the second 20-minute stint's first 11 points. From there, the game saw four ties before the 15 minute mark.

With Oklahoma Baptist holding a one-point lead moments later, 52-51, and with a chance to push it to four with three free-throw attempts waiting, all three freebies rimmed out as Patterson took the rebound coast-to-coast for a lead the Reddies would hold onto for seven minutes.

The Bison retook the lead at the 5:49 mark, 63-62, but Davis buried one of his three triples on the afternoon for the final lead change of the contest. Minutes later, with the game tied again at 67-67, Davis' second clutch shot of the waning minutes came with 2:39 on the clock, as the score remained in favor of HSU the rest of the way.

After a six-point lead was built by the home team, a three-pointer from the Bison cut the lead back to three to give the visitors some momentum with just over a minute remaining. With Davis missing a jumper on the other end of the court, Patterson picked up one of his two offensive rebounds of the day before finding Tomislav Miholjcic under the basket to keep the lead intact, 75-70.

Free-throws down the stretch allowed Henderson to reach its fourth GAC victory of the season and finish the first weekend of 2024 a perfect 2-0. The Reddies will now undergo the longest road trip in the GAC when it heads to western Oklahoma to fast Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State this Thursday and Saturday.