ARKADELPHIA, ARK. – The East Central University men's basketball team broke a six-game losing streak to Henderson State with an 88-75 victory on the road in Great American Conference action at the Duke Wells Center.  The streak dated back to the 1991-92 season, with no games having been played between 1991-92 and 2011-12.

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"I am really proud of the way we played this week to go on the road and get two league wins to start the GAC season," said head coach Ja Havens.  "We showed a lot of toughness and responded well to runs today when it was needed. 

The Tigers (3-1, 2-0 GAC) were paced by junior Stirling Thomas, who tallied a career-best 36 points and added seven steals, one away from a single game ECU record.  Senior Henry Pwono garnered his second double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds and redshirt sophomore Braxton Reeves contributed 15 points.

"I give a lot of credit to Stirling for carrying us in the second half tonight," added Havens.  "But it we did a great job as a team to get this wins by getting contributions at key moments from everyone."

The opening half started as a back-and-forth battle, with no team leading by more than two points in the first 4:30.  At that point, the game was tied at nine and that is when the Tigers took control for the next seven minutes.  ECU used a 21-7 run over the span to push the lead to 15 points (31-16).  The Reddies pushed back and put together a 14-0 run over the next 4:30 to cut the deficit to one (31-30).

The teams traded points for the next two minutes before the Tigers used an 8-4 run in the final 2:30 to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room.

HSU came out for the second half ready to battle and used a 10-4 run in the first three minutes to take a 46-48 advantage.  The Tigers responded with an 8-0 run to regain the advantage, 54-48, with 13:20 left to play.  Over the next few minutes, ECU pushed the tempo and got the lead back to double-digits and held the advantage by no less than seven the rest of the game on the way to the 88-75 win.

The Tigers shot 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the field and 50 percent (11-of-22) from beyond the arc, but really earned the win at the charity stripe.  ECU went 21-of-30 from the free-throw line and held the Reddies to an 8-of-16 mark.

The Tigers will now get ready to play their first home game of the 2014-15 season, Tuesday, Nov. 25 when they welcome Rogers State to the Kerr Activities Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip.