ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita men's basketball team earned the regular season sweep of cross-street rival Henderson State after downing the Reddies 73-71 Thursday night in the confines of Bill Vining Arena.
Inside a packed Vining Arena, Ouachita (16-7, 11-6 GAC) got off to a sluggish start. Henderson State (13-10, 9-8 GAC) scored the first six points in quick succession. Ouachita got its first field goal after almost two minutes of action. The Reddie's lead hit nine points before the Tiger offense started to find its groove with 13 minutes left in the first half. An 8-0 Ouachita run that spanned just 1:33 brought the game within one point with the score 20-19.
It took another five minutes of back-and-forth action before the Tigers were able to tie the game 25-25 at the 6:16 mark. Ouachita gained its first lead of the night with 5:30 on the clock and never looked back. The Tigers outscored the Reddies 18-5 over the final five-and-a-half minutes to head into the break leading by double-digits with the score of 43-32.
Henderson came out fast in the second half and cut Ouachita's lead to just four points. From there, the race was on between the next-door neighbors. The Tigers and Reddies began going shot for shot. Ouachita managed to push its lead back out to seven points, but that would be the largest lead for the Tigers in the second half.
Ouachita managed to keep HSU just barely out of reach over the rest of second half. The Reddies brought the game within a single possession and even within a single point on more than one occasion over the final 10 minutes, but each time, the Tigers had an answer, silencing the Henderson fans and cutting off any momentum HSU tried to find. Ouachita held on to secure a 73-71 victory over the cross-street rival.
This is the fourth straight victory and the fifth in the last six matchups for Ouachita over Henderson State.
Hobert Grayson led the way for the Tigers with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Grayson shot 8-for-15 and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. These combined give the reigning GAC Defensive Player of the Week his 14th double-double of the season.
Shaun Williams was next in scoring with 17 points and led all passers with five assists.
Devyn Franklin rounds out the Tigers in double figures with 16 points, lead the team with three steals, and was second in rebounds with seven.
The Tigers' 11 conference wins so far are the most since the 2018-2019 season.
Ouachita still sits in a two-way tie for third place in the GAC standings and is just one game out of second place.
The Tigers will look to keep the success going on Saturday, February 15 when they travel to take on the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech University at 3 p.m. in Russellville.
