ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University men's basketball dropped its road game to cross-street rival Henderson State 62-59, splitting the regular season series with the Reddies.
The game started with both teams shooting was though someone placed a lid on the baskets before tipoff. Ouachita (10-12, 8-10 GAC) was able to put together an 8-2 run over the first three minutes of the game. Henderson (11-13, 8-10 GAC) answered with an 8-2 run its own that also spanned nearly three minutes to tie the game at 10-10 at the 14-minute mark. The Tigers took back the lead, which was taken back again by the Reddies a minute later. This was followed by a two-minute scoring drought for both teams. Henderson pushed its lead to five points at the 10-minute mark, but the Tigers pushed right back, going on a 5-0 run over the span of four minutes to tie the game at 17-17. Both teams again traded leads, with the Reddies having a two-point lead with 10 seconds left. The Tigers were about to tie the game, but were called for offensive goaltending on the final shot. The Tigers went into the break trailing by two with a score of 29-27.
The imaginary lid was not removed during the halftime break, as the shooting remained almost the same in the second half. Ouachita was able to tie the game on a layup from
Tylar Haynes and then take a lead on a three-pointer from
LaQuan Butler Jr. The Tigers pushed their lead out to five points on a jumper from
Ma'Darius Hobson, but Henderson tied it up just a minute-and-a-half later. Then, the invisible lid on the rim seemed to disappear with 15 minutes left as the two rivals traded ties over the next five minutes. Ouachita was able to regain the lead three times before the Reddies took their first lead in almost 10 minutes with 9:17 to go. Ouachita tied it and retook the lead on free throws from Hobson. The teams again went back-and-forth with leads, in total there were eight ties and six lead changes in the second half.
The Tigers took their last lead with 2:58 left in the game, but the Reddies took it right back 20 seconds later. The deficit was cut to a single point on free throws from Haynes, but Henderson pushed it back to three with free throws on its own. The Tigers couldn't get their last shot off in time and fell to the Reddies by a score of 62-59.
The Top Tiger in tonight's game was
Tylar Haynes as he recorded his second-straight double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, the 13 boards tied a season high. This was Haynes' fourth double double of the season and the second time in his career that he has had back-to-back double doubles.
Alex Scariolo was next in scoring with 14 points, followed by
Ma'Darius Hobson with 11 and
LaQuan Butler Jr. with 10.
The Tigers will look to get back on track at home Thursday, February 16 as they host the Tigers of East Central at Bill Vining Arena.
