LANCASTER, Texas — Henderson State got a great game from newcomer Rel Johnson and fought past the University of Mary in the second half to pull out a 66-63 win in the season opener on Friday evening.

Johnson was terrific in his debut and went for 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a team-high 39 minutes of action. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc on the night. Anthony Lupardus and Kyle Murphy each added nine points for the Reddies, while Mike Fofana had eight and a team-high nine rebounds. Eight different Reddies got into the scoring column on the night.

The Reddies (1-0) got off to a...