ARKADELPHIA – It took an extra five minutes, but the Ouachita men's basketball team went across the street and came back winners, taking down Henderson State 92-87 in overtime behind a career-high 27 points from
MJ Leslie.
This marks the first time the Tigers have swept the Reddies in the regular season since 2016.
Ouachita (8-14, 6-11 GAC) was ready for the Reddies, as the Tigers jumped out to a 10-point, 12-2 lead over Henderson (7-15, 6-11 GAC) after the first three minutes of action. The Tigers held onto their lead over the next eight minutes until the Reddies tied things up at 21-21. Ouachita retook the lead and pushed it back out to as many as eight points before HSU stormed right back and with 41 seconds left in the half, the Reddies tied the game and the two rivals headed into halftime all knotted up at 35.
Henderson came out hot in the second half, taking the lead and running with it. HSU pushed their lead out to 13 points with 12 minutes left in regulation. Ouachita was still trailing by double digits with eight minutes to go before the team started to wake back up and find a groove. The Tigers slowly began chipping away at the Reddies' lead and wouldn't go away. HSU tried to push the lead back out, but each time, the Ouachita had an answer. Then, with 1:18 left to go in the second half, the Tigers tied it up 75-75. The Reddies made the next shot, but a technical foul let
Emorie Knox tie it back up at 77. Two more free throws put HSU ahead 79-77 with just 18 seconds left. Knox was fouled with five seconds on the clock and sunk both free throws to make it 79-79; a missed HSU three-pointer at the buzzer sent the game into overtime.
The Tigers opened overtime on a 6-0 run to lead 85-79 and never looked back. The Ouachita defense stepped up late, not allowing the Reddies to make a single shot from the field in OT. The eight overtime points for HSU came solely from the free throw line.
MJ Leslie came up clutch for the Tigers in the extra minutes, scoring 11 of the 13 points for Ouachita in OT. Leslie shot 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in overtime to give the Tigers the 92-87 victory over the Reddies.
Leslie was the game's leading scorer, racking up a career-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The 27 points tied for the second most by a Tiger in a single game this season. This is the second time this season that a Tigers has scored a career-high and led all scorers against HSU.
A total of five Tigers reached double figures in scoring against Henderson.
Tylar Haynes was second with 19 points, followed by Knox with 15,
Terran Williams with 12, and
Reggie Martin with 10. Martin also led the team in rebounds with seven.
Knox led the team in assists, handing out a career-high eight. The eight assists are the most by a Tiger in a single game this season.
The Tigers will look to keep momentum on their side as they host the second-place Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech on Saturday, February 17 at 3 p.m. in Bill Vining Arena.
