ARKADELPHIA – In front of a packed Bill Vining Arena, the Ouachita Baptist University men's basketball team defended its side of the Ravine, taking down Henderson State University 74-69 and sending the Reddies on the long walk back across highway seven.
Tonight's game was one for the books and with Ouachita legend Coach Bill Vining in attendance, the Tigers snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Reddies, taking down their rival for the first time since February 2018.
Ouachita (8-7, 6-5 GAC) started the game by trailing 5-0 to Henderson (8-9, 5-6 GAC) over the first three minutes of the game. But less than two minutes later, the Tigers found a spark and proceeded to go on a 15-0 tear to take a 10-point lead at the 11:21 mark. It started to look like the Tigers were going to shoot the Reddies out of the gym as Ouachita's lead ballooned up to 16 points on a
Ma'Darius Hobson jumper with just over six minutes left in the half. Henderson tried to chip away at the Tiger's lead and was able to cut it back to single digits before the break, but Ouachita still commanded a nine-point advantage at halftime.
The second half started with the Tigers coming out hot, quickly scoring five points on a jumper from
Tylar Haynes and a three pointer from
Alex Scariolo to push their lead up to 14. Over the next six minutes, Henderson was able to shorten the Tigers' lead down to just a single point, making the score 51-50 with 12 minutes remaining. Ouachita tried to being their lead back up, but was unable to get more than two possessions ahead of Henderson and five minutes left in the game, the Reddies were able to tie the game and then take a two-point lead.
However, the Tigers were quick to answer, as
Reggie Martin drained a fadeaway three pointer just 17 seconds later to give Ouachita a lead once again. A jumper and a few free throws sealed a Battle of the Ravine victory for the Tigers and sent the Reddies back across the street to the sound of car keys jingling in the air and Dr. Motl telling the crowd to put it in the books. And put it in the books they did.
Leading the way for the Tigers tonight was
LaQuan Butler Jr. with 18 points on 6-11 shooting, including 5-7 from three-point range. Butler Jr. also led the team in assists as he dished out four of them.
Tylar Haynes was right behind with 17 points and was followed by
Ma'Darius Hobson with 15.
Another key player in tonight's game was
Jared Adams, who led the team with eight rebounds, of which four were offensive boards. Adams also picked up a crucial late-game charge that helped push momentum back to the Tigers.
The Tigers will look to build on tonight's win as they head on a two-game road trip to Oklahoma that starts off against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday, January 26.
