ARKADELPHIA, Ark.– SWOSU Men's Hoops brought the defense on Thursday night, holding Henderson State to 30% shooting, including 20% in the first half, in route to a 71-60 victory over the Reddies.
The 60 points allowed marks the lowest opponent scoring total the Bulldogs have allowed all season.
"It was a very physical game and we fought through some tough circumstances," Head Coach Terry Evans said in his post-game press conference. "We felt like we had to beat them on the defensive floor tonight to get the victory and we were able to tighten up the D and execute. Holding them to 60 points is amazing and defense and rebounding definitely won us the game tonight."
SWOSU set the tone in the first half. They led by as many as 24 points late in the half and only allowed 24 total points through the first 20 minutes of game time. The Reddies were ice cold shooting to start things off, credited to the Bulldog defense, and SWOSU took advantage.
Ben Smith scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half and was the spark plug that let SWOSU's offense click. SWOSU shot 45% themselves in the half and looked good going into the half time locker room.
After halftime the Reddies turned it up a notch, but the Dawgs were ready for the figurative punches they would throw. HSU made a run through the first 10 minutes of the second half and managed to cut the margin to as few as eight points – but SWOSU eliminated all future momentum changes by continually answering the Reddie scores with baskets of their own.
The final 10 minutes saw the margin hover around the 10-12 point range and did not dip below eight.
"We knew they were going to make a run. They're a good team, but I'm very glad our guys held on and battled through it. We're fighting for our lives right in the conference standings and we must continue to win games. We're trying to win eight in a row to end the season. That's our mentality. It started tonight, and we'll go again Saturday."
SWOSU moves to 7-8 in GAC play and now sits seventh in the standings after tonight. The top eight teams get to move on to postseason play at the end of the season.
Up next for the Bulldogs is Ouachita Baptist on Saturday where they will look to avenge an earlier season loss to the Tigers. Tipoff for that game is set for 3pm in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
