A long 3-pointer by Antonio Benjamin forced overtime and the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team controlled the overtime period to knock off rival Henderson State, 76-68, Thursday night in a Gulf South Conference West Division game at the Duke Wells Center.
Benjamin’s three forced overtime and the Tigers dominated the extra period by out-scoring the Reddies, 11-3.
Rowan Ledbetter sealed the game at the free-throw line down the stretch by going 3-of-4 as the Tigers have now won five straight over their rivals.
Daniel Maddox paced Ouachita (12-7 overall, 2-4 GSC West) with 19 points, while Ledbetter added 17, including going 6-of-8 at the charity stripe. Benjamin had 15 points, including two 3-pointer – but none was bigger than the one that tied the game with 11 seconds remaining in regulation. Ed Keyes recorded a double-double, 11 points and 13 boards and Belford Williams chipped in with 10 points.
Ouachita, which has now won two straight, was 28-of-64 (44 percent) shooting and went 12-of-21 (57 percent) from the foul line. The Tigers drained eight 3-pointers.
Ouachita jumped out to a 12-8 advantage with 14:17 remaining in the opening half as Keyes scored on an ally-oop layup. But Henderson State rallied as Martin Mitchell scored on a jumper with 11:38 left to cut the Tiger lead to 14-12. The Reddies grabbed a 15-14 lead on a 3-pointer by Tray Allison with 11:15 remaining.
Ouachita battled back by using a 14-4 run, capped by a Ledbetter drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Tigers a 28-19 advantage with 6:04 left.
Henderson State (3-15, 1-5) rallied to cut the Ouachita advantage to 28-24 as Vincent Patterson sank a three with 3:53 remaining in the opening half. But again the Tigers had an answer with Maddox draining a 3-pointer with 2:59 left.
Every time the Tigers scored, the Reddies had an answer as Vincent sank a three from the left corner to cut the deficit to 32-29 with two minutes left.
Ouachita, which led 34-31 at the half, was 14-of-29 (48 percent) shooting, but just 2-of-6 (33 percent) from the charity stripe. The Tigers were also 4-of-10 (40 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Henderson State was 12-of-31 (39 percent) from the floor and 3-of-6 (50 percent) from the free-throw line. The Reddies were also 50 percent from behind the 3-point line, going 4-of-8.
The Tigers began the second half on a 12-6 run, capped by a Maddox layup to give Ouachita a 43-37 advantage with 16:01 remaining. Henderson State rallied by scoring the next six points to trim the margin to 43-41.
A 3-pointer by Lucas Whisenhunt tied the game at 44 with 12:40 left, but the Tigers got the lead back on their next offensive possession as Antonio Benjamin hit a jumper in the lane to give Ouachita a 46-44 lead with 12:06 remaining.
Back-to-Back baskets by Williams gave Ouachita a 53-49 lead with just under eight minutes to play. After the media timeout, Ledbetter sank two shots at the free-throw line to give the Tigers a 55-49 lead with 7:40 left.
After a blocked shot by Maddox, the senior ran the floor and completed the play by sinking a 3-pointer with 6:38 remaining, forcing Henderson State coach Sam Weaver to call a timeout with the Tigers on top, 60-51.
The timeout worked as Henderson State went on a 10-0 run to grab a 61-60 advantage after P.J. Roberson scored on a jumper with 3:10 remaining. A bucket by Whisenhunt extended the lead to 63-60 with just under two minutes to play.
After two free throws by Maddox, the Reddies called timeout with 1:28 remaining. Coming out of the timeout, the Tigers forced Patterson into a bad shot and Williams came down with the rebound, while being fouled with 1:02 left.
Williams missed the free throw, but Benjamin came up with the rebound. Williams had another look at the basket, but his shot was off the mark and rebounded by Allison, who was fouled by Williams with 45 seconds remaining.
Mitchell was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play. He sank both shots to give the Reddies a 65-62 lead with 40 seconds left. A 3-pointer by Benjamin fell off the mark and the Tigers were forced to foul with 21 seconds remaining.
Patterson missed the front end of a one-and-one and after an Ouachita timeout, Benjamin drained a long 3-pointer to tie the game at 65 with 11 seconds remaining. Henderson State had one more chance to win the game in regulation as Allison’s shot was off the mark to force overtime.
Ouachita began overtime with Benjamin scoring on a layup and after a missed shot by the Reddies, Ledbetter draining a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 70-65 lead with 3:33 remaining. A layup by Allison and a free throw cut the Ouachita margin to 70-68 with 1:41 left.
Benjamin sank a long jumper with 1:28 remaining to give Ouachita a 72-68 advantage. After a missed shot by the Reddies, Ledbetter was fouled and the senior went one-of-two at the line to push the advantage to 73-68 with 1:02 left.
Allison led Henderson State with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Whisenhunt finished with 13 points, while Roberson finished with a double-double, 12 points and 15 boards. The Reddies were 28-of-71 (39 percent) from the floor and 7-of-12 (58 percent) from the charity stripe. Henderson State sank five 3-pointers.
Ouachita plays host 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31 to Harding at Bill Vining Arena in a Gulf South Conference West Division contest. The game, which is sponsored by the NCAA’s “Take a Kid to the Game Day” and is also the Coaches vs. Cancer Sneakers Awareness Weekend can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
