Alva Review-Courier -

DURANT, Okla. — Henderson State had the ball and a chance to win the game with nine seconds to play on Saturday afternoon, but a good look from DJ Franklinwould not fall and Kaylon Tappin's last second half-court heave drew nothing but backboard, as the Reddies fell 60-58 to Southeastern Oklahoma State.

The Reddies led for more than 27 minutes in the game, including the majority of the second half, but did not hit a shot from the field in the game's final 4:27 and it ultimately cost them, as the Savage Storm closed the game on a 9-4 run to overcome Henderson's slim 54-51 lead.

Leading by three, 59-56, with 13 seconds to play, Southeastern chose to foul Henderson's Chris Parkerwith 10 seconds remaining. After Parker hit both, the Savage Storm inbounded the ball off the leg of point guard Jett Jobe, giving it back to the Reddies with nine seconds to go and HSU trailing 59-58. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Franklin found an opening and attacked the basket, but his floater fell off the front of the rim, and after he grabbed his own board, he was stripped on the way down by Jobe. Jobe was fouled and made one of two, giving Tappin a chance for a final heave, but it did not draw iron.

Tappin led Henderson with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Jones chipped in 14 and five. Franklin played one of the best games of his young Reddies career as well, finishing with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. The Reddies held the Savage Storm to 31.5 percent shooting from the field, but shot just 32.8 percent themselves and were out-rebounded 41-40. HSU did excel at the free throw line on the day, going or 16-for-16 from the charity stripe.

Henderson controlled the action for most of the game's first 20 minutes, but with the Reddies leading 22-9 with 7:46 to go until the break, the Savage Storm got going and hit three-straight 3-pointers as a part of a 15-0 run, which catapulted them from down 13 points into a 24-22 lead. Despite losing the lead, HSU answered over the last two minutes of the half with a 6-2 run to regain a 28-26 advantage heading into the locker room. The Reddies got the lead up to as many as five at moments in the second half, but in what proved to be a tight game all the way through, Southeastern made just enough plays to scrape together a late win.

The loss drops the Reddies to 6-6 on the year and 1-5 in Great American Conference action. Henderson's next game is Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. against Arkansas Tech at home in the Duke Wells Center.