State sports briefs

SAU men hold on for victory

The Southern Arkansas University men (8-10, 6-6 Great American Conference) led by nine points at halftime Saturday against Henderson State University (6-11, 5-7) at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, but the Muleriders withstood a Reddies rally and a three-pointer by Gregory Hammond Jr. with a minute to go gave them a 72-71 victory.

Henderson State took its first lead of the second half with 13:13 to go on a fastbreak layup by Malek Davis, but the Muleriders quickly rebuilt the lead on layups from Hammond and Christian Caldwell to lead 56-53 with 10:15 remaining. The teams traded the lead over the next few minutes and a three-pointer from Jaren Harris tied the game at 69-69 with 2:06 left. Tomislav Miholjcic hit a basket with 1:26 remaining to give HSU a 71-69 lead before Hammond’s three-pointer won it for SAU.

Cedric Garrett led Southern Arkansas with 23 points, Hammond finished with 18 and Jessie Davis Jr. chipped in with 10 off the bench. Davis led Henderson State with 22 points, Zyon Patterson poured in 18 and Miholjcic contributed 11.

In another Great American Conference men’s game Saturday, Taelon Peter scored 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, Tommy Kamarad had 19 and Bassius Brooks added 13 for Arkansas Tech University (14-4, 10-2) in a 67-50 victory over the University of Arkansas-Monticello (8-9, 6-6) at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville. Zane Nelson led UAM with 16 points and Isaac Jackson added 11.

Strong second quarter paces HSU women

The Henderson State University women (12-6, 8-4 Great American Conference) outscored Southern Arkansas University 24-9 in the second quarter Saturday to pull away in an 81-60 victory at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia.

The Reddies went 9 of 14 (64.3%) from the floor in the second quarter and finished at 58% for the game. Henderson State outrebounded Southern Arkansas 34-24, held a 40-34 scoring advantage in the lane and turned 15 SAU turnovers into 21 points.

Jadah Pickens led Henderson State with 16 points and Olivia Allen chipped in with 14 off the bench. Qua Chambers led Southern Arkansas (9-9, 4-8) with 15 points each, while Addy Tremie, Diamond Morris and Chloe Wilbanks added 10 each.

In other Great American Conference women’s games Saturday, ClaraGrace Prater scored 15 points to lead five Arkansas Tech University (9-7, 6-6) players with 10 or more points in a 94-42 victory over the University of Arkansas-Monticello (6-12, 2-10) at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville. Bailey Harris led UAM with 12 points. … Rory Geer scored 14 points, while Sage Hawley and Kendruck Bailey added 10 each for Harding University (16-2, 11-1) in a 64-52 victory over Ouachita Baptist University (7-9, 5-7) at Rhodes-Reaves Field House in Searcy. Madeleine Tipton scored a game-high 28 points in the loss for OBU.

WBU women pull away from Williams Woods

The Williams Baptist University women (14-4, 7-2 American Midwest Conference) shot 55% from the floor in the second quarter Saturday, including 42.9% from the three-point line, to outscore Williams Woods 27-4 during an 82-48 victory at the Southerland-Mabee Center in Walnut Ridge.

The Eagles outscored the Owls 38-10 in the lane, outrebounded them 58-34 and forced Williams Woods into 17 turnovers, converting them into 13 points.

Kaylee Clark led Williams Baptist with 25 points, with 23 of them coming in the first half. Carmen Taylor had 14 points for the Eagles and Nijah Moore added 12 off the bench.

WBU men drop home game

The Williams Baptist University men (10-8, 2-5 American Midwest Conference) got 20 points from Duke Hardin on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough in an 89-79 loss to William Woods at the Southerland-Mabee Center in Walnut Ridge.

The Owls used a 12-2 run in the second half to pull away after leading by one at halftime. Williams Woods shot 65.4% from the floor in the second half, including 55.6% from the three-point line. Williams Baptist shot 34.9% from the floor for the game, including 36.7% from the three-point line, while forcing 24 turnovers and getting 26 points off the bench.

DJ Townsend chipped in 13 points for the Eagles and Bet Keton added 12 to surpass 1,000 points in his career.

Kaza leads Lyon women to victory

Sophomore Natalya Kaza scored 29 points on Saturday to lead the Lyon College women to an 87-69 victory over Principia at Becknell Gymnasium in Batesville.

The Scots (12-7, 7-5 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) led 3331 at halftime, then outscored the Panthers 27-18 in the third quarter to pull away. Lyon led 60-49 going to the fourth quarter.

Allison Byars and Brooklyn Rowe scored 16 points each for Lyon, while Savanna Lopez added 10.

ASU goes undefeated in traditional matches

The Arkansas State University women went undefeated in five traditional matches Saturday at the Prairie View Invitational in Arlington, Texas.

The Red Wolves defeated four ranked teams in the process, earning victories over No. 9 Stephen F. Austin (945-928), Prairiew View A&M (1,032-821), No. 7 Nebraska (1,104-966), No. 10 Maryville (943-908) and No. 2 Vanderbilt (1,161-1,024). The 1,161 pins against Vanderbilt was ASU’s highest total in a traditional match this season.

Karli VanDuinen led Arkansas State with a total of 1,128 pins for an average of 225.6 per match. She rolled over 200 in all five matches, with a high of 246 against Prairie View A&M and 243 in the victory over Vanderbilt. Emma Stull downed 1,019 pins and Faith Welch added 1,017.

ASU has an 8-2 record in the event and sits third in the team standings with 10,280 total pins, just behind Jacksonville State (10,498) and Youngstown State (10,355). The Red Wolves face Jacksonville State in a traditional match today before two best-of-seven Baker series in bracket play will decide the event’s winner.