FORT SMITH, Ark. — True freshman Rondae Hill poured in 25 points with seven 3-pointers on Friday evening to lift No. 5 seed Henderson State to a 76-70 win over No. 4 seed Oklahoma Baptist in the Great American Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Reddies advance to the GAC semifinals tomorrow night at 5:45 p.m. where they will take on No. 1 seed and regular season conference champion Southern Nazarene.

Hill, who was named the GAC Freshman of the Year on Wednesday, put the Reddies on his back and hit six of his seven 3-pointers in the first half of play. Nehikhare Igiehon added 18 points and seven rebounds while Tim McDonald finished with 11 points and seven boards of his own.

Henderson came flying out of the gates in the opening minutes and used six 3-pointers — four from Hill and two from Rece Hipp — to seize a commanding 30-9 advantage at the 9:49 mark of the first half. Oklahoma Baptist slowly climbed back into the game and closed the gap to 40-32 just before the break, but a deep, dagger three from Hill extended the Reddie lead back out to 43-32 at the halfway point.

HSU built its advantage up to 15 points, 59-44, on a three from McDonald with 13:51 to go in the second period, but the Bison refused to go away. OKBU used a 16-4 run over the next seven minutes to trim their deficit down to 63-60 at the under-eight minute media timeout.

Despite the late challenge, that was the closest the Bison got. The Reddie defense proved stingy down the stretch and held Oklahoma Baptist to 3-for-12 shooting from the floor in the game's final 7:32. A clutch bucket from Jamarion Brown and big free throws in the final seconds from Hill secured the victory for HSU.

Henderson shot 49.1% from the floor in the win and out-rebounded the Bison 37-26. The Reddies have now advanced to the semifinal round of the GAC Tournament in five of the last seven seasons.