WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Men's Basketball used a 45-point second half to overtake the visiting Reddies in a 78-72 win, splitting the season series between the two teams.

SWOSU (10-11, 7-9 GAC) went 2-0 this week and is now 8-2 at home. They will host Northwestern on Thursday, Feb. 13th at 7:30 pm, seeking to avenge a loss to the Rangers earlier in the season.

On Saturday, the Dawgs created a seven-point separation leading 17-10 early on, but the Reddies responded with a spurt to take an eight-point lead at 29-21 with five minutes left in the first half. The Dawgs trimmed the deficit to two points after a deep Kray Rogers three-pointer with just under 30 seconds remaining.

Henderson State controlled their lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half before SWOSU broke through to take a 51-50 lead. Tucker Shephard scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes, including two three-pointers and seven of eight free throws, to hold off any Henderson State run.

SWOSU's largest lead in the second half came from the final score, a six-point win at 78-72. The Bulldogs scored 45 in the second half, tied for their highest points in any half for conference play.

The Bulldogs shot 23-54 (42.6%) from the field and 5-22 (22.7%) from three-point range. The visiting team shot 25-66 (37.9%) and 5-19 (26.3%) from beyond the arc. SWOSU shot 27-33 (81.8%) from the free-throw line, their highest attempts of the season.

Elijah Williams had a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds (season-high), while Tucker Shephard (15), MJ Warrior (13), and Tobias Roland (11) all scored in double figures.