Reddies hold Bisons under 50

Henderson State took a dominant victory over Harding after a strong defensive effort held the Bisons under 50 in a 71-49 rout at Rhodes-Reaves Field House in Searcy Saturday.

Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half with the Reddies (6-3, 3-1 Great American Conference) hitting 30% (12 of 40) from the field while the Bisons (3-7, 1-3) were held to 29.63% (8 of 27). While HSU improved to 53.33% for the second half (16 of 30) for 40% overall, Harding hit just 9 of 31 (29.03%) for 29.3% in 40 minutes.

Both teams also struggled from the perimeter with a total of nine 3-pointers (4 HSU, 5 Harding). The Reddies did prove themselves at the free throw line, hitting 11 of 14 (78.6%) while the Bisons hit 10 of 20 (50%).

Malik Riddle led the Reddies with 18 points and six rebounds while Tomislav Miholjcic picked up a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. Stetson Smithson was the only Bison in double figures with 20 points and eight rebounds with Taylor Currie and Sam Henderson adding nine points each.

SAU 89, ARK. TECH 83

Southern Arkansas hit 11 of 20 (55%) from 3-point range and 29 of 58 (50%) from the floor as the Muleriders (7-3, 3-1) held off Arkansas Tech (5-5, 2-2) at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.

Jalen Brooks hit a driving layup at the 4:12 mark of the second half to reach over 1,000 career points, becoming the fourth Mulerider under head coach Andy Sharpe to reach the goal and third this season.

SAU shot 59% (13 of 22) from the floor in the first half to take a 41-32 lead at intermission, stretching out to a 13-point lead early in the second half before a 15-5 run by the Wonder Boys cut the spread back to 52-49.

The second half saw five ties and six lead changes before the Muleriders put the game away at the line, going 6 for 6 in the final two minutes.

Blake Rogers led the Muleriders with 19 points, Brooks finished with 18, Devante Brooks and Victor Ihrihri had 17 each, and Aaron Lucas finished with 12. Devante Brooks, one of the other 1,000-point scorers for SAU, had a game-high 14 rebounds.

Czar Perry and Tony Hall led the Wonder Boys with 23 points each, Hall finishing with 10 rebounds, and Taelon Peter had 12 points.

UAM 70, OBU 60

After trailing by one at halftime, the Boll Weevils (73, 3-1) regained control of the game and picked up their third straight win of the season, downing the Tigers (2-8, 0-4) at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia.

The Weevils took an early lead, holding on until the last five minutes of the first half as OBU took a 24-22 lead and did not relinquish it for the rest of the half, holding on for a 33-32 lead at intermission. The Tigers held on early in the second half, but UAM took control with 5:05 off the clock and hit an 8-0 run to secure a dominant lead it held the rest of the night.

Josh Williams led the Weevils with 16 points, Ray Price had 15 with a game-high four steals, and Cole Anderson finished with 10 points and a teamhigh six rebounds. Tylar Haynes led the Tigers with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Ma’Darius Hobson added 10 points.

WOMEN HSU 82, HARDING 78

Gracie Raby had a career high 21 points and Sonni Martin added a season-high 20 to lead HSU (8-2, 3-1) past Harding (63, 2-2) at Rhodes-Reaves Field House in Searcy.

Harding jumped out to a strong start behind Sage Hawley, who scored 14 of the team’s 20 first-quarter points, while the Reddies were held to 12. HSU bounced back in the second quarter with a 15-2 run to take a 27-22 lead, but the Lady Bisons managed to take 32-30 lead into intermission.

Harding stretched its lead to 54-50, but the Reddies broke the game open in the fourth, outscoring the home team 32-24 to secure the win.

Ashley Farrar also put up 21 to lead the Reddies as the third Reddie in double digits. Hannah Collins led the Lady Bisons with a game-high 26 points while Hawley finished with 24 and 12 rebounds.

OBU 87, UAM 59

After struggling in the first half, OBU (4-4, 2-2) outscored winless UAM 28-7 to take control for an 87-59 rout at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia.

The Tigers fell behind 23-22 in the first quarter on 9-of-20 shooting (45%) but managed to take a 39-36 lead into intermission, despite hitting just 8 of 19 from the field and just 1 of 4 from the free throw line. OBU took control in the third quarter after finally finding its rhythm from 3-point range, hitting 4 of 7 (57.14%) after hitting just 4 of 11 in the first half.

OBU held off the Cotton Blossoms in the final 10 minutes as both teams hit 6 of 14 from the field, but the Tigers hit 7 of 10 from the free throw line compared to just 2 of 4 for UAM to secure the win.

Top scorer in the country and Lake Hamilton grad Aspen Thornton led all scorers with 22 points and seven steals. Laney Mears had 16 points, Makayla Miller finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Makenzie Schilmoeller tallied 10 points.

Taylor Flores led UAM with 17 points, and Bailey Harris had 13.

SAU, ARK. TECH POSTPONED

Saturday’s women’s game between SAU and Arkansas Tech was postponed, both programs announced Saturday afternoon.

According to the releases, the game was “postponed by mutual consent of the two programs in order to protect the health of the student-athletes.”

The game will be rescheduled in January.