Tappin's 34 Points Powers Henderson Past Arkansas Tech in Russellville, 83-75
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February 18, 2018
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Henderson State got a career-high 34 points from Kaylon Tappin and went on a critical 10-0 run in the game's final minutes to defeat Arkansas Tech 83-75 on Saturday afternoon and clinch its first season sweep of the Wonder Boys since 2006-07.
Henderson (13-12, 8-11) got off to a great start and used 24 first half-points from Tappin to shoot 54 percent in the opening 20 minutes and grab a 47-41 halftime advantage on the road.
The Wonderboys (15-10, 9-10) refused to go away and after the Reddies started the second half cold, ATU capitalized to take a 62-59 lead with 11 minutes to play. A quick 10-2 run from Henderson behind buckets from four different players helped HSU surge back in front 69-64, but again Tech answered, and used a 9-4 run to tie things up at 73-73 with 4:16 left in the game.
From that moment on, the Wonder Boys did not score another bucket, as the Reddies took control. Josh Jones got things going with a big transition 3-pointer and Chris Parker followed it up with a driving layup to give Henderson a 78-73 lead. After a big stand defensively on Tech's next possession, Tappin went into his bag of tricks and drained a deep, contested 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the Reddies lead to 81-73 and put the Wonder Boys in dire straits with 1:57 remaining.
Brad Nairn delivered the knockout punch a minute later, when Parker found him wide open in transition for a monster dunk — the exclamation point on a game-winning 10-0 run for the Reddies. ATU got two free throws in the final seconds but it was too late for a rally, as Henderson came away with arguably its biggest win of the year in Russellville.
Tappin was terrific for Henderson and finished with 34 points, seven 3-pointers, seven rebounds and six assists. Parker added 14 with nine rebounds and four assists, while Jones had 10 points to round out the double figure scorers for HSU.
The Reddies hit 13 3-pointers and shot 52 percent from beyond the arc in the win, while also out-rebounding Tech 38-36. The win for Henderson is its first in Tucker Coliseum since 2006-07.
Henderson's final home game of the season comes on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. against rival Ouachita Baptist in the Duke Wells Center.
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