Box Score
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Playing its first game as a nationally ranked NCAA Division II team, Harding got 35 points from junior forward Matt Hall and defeated St. Edward’s 91-89 in overtime in the Bisons’ regular season opener.
Harding, ranked 21st in the NABC Division II poll, grabbed an 83-81 lead in the extra period on a Hall dunk with 3:48 left. Hall then drained his only three-pointer of the game to put the Bisons ahead 86-81.
St. Edward’s (0-1) battled back and trimmed the Harding lead to two on a Kenneth Edwards jumper in the paint with 30 seconds remaining. The Bisons committed a turnover on their next possession, allowing Hilltopper Shawn Weinstein a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer that fell short.
Hall had eight of Harding’s 12 points in overtime.
The Bisons had a chance to win the game in regulation. Harding junior Rick Hamilton stole the ball and was fouled with only one second remaining, but missed the front end of the 1-and-1 to send the game to overtime with the score knotted at 78.
Despite shooting 58 percent from the field in the first half, Harding trailed 47-43 at halftime, thanks mostly to seven three-pointers from St. Edward’s. The Bisons led by as many as 11 in the second half, but the Hilltoppers closed the period with a 10-2 run.
Hall hit 10-of-20 shots from the field and 14-of-18 from the foul line. He also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, playing all but three minutes in the game. It was Hall’s sixth career game with 30 or more points and just two short of his career high of 37 that came against Delta State in 2005.
Hamilton, making his Harding debut after transferring from Clarendon College, scored 15 points and added seven rebounds. Senior Cole Kee hit 5-of-7 from the field and finished with 13 points. Freshman Trent Morgan scored 10 and dished out a team-high seven assists.
It was Harding’s first overtime game in more than two years. The Bisons’ last game to go into overtime was an 82-81 victory over Central Arkansas on Feb. 16, 2004. The last time Harding played overtime in its season opener was in a 90-88 victory over Lyon in 1998.
Weinstein led St. Edward’s with 21 points.
The Bisons will play their second game of the St. Edward’s Shootout on Saturday at 4 p.m., against Incarnate Word. The Crusaders lost 82-78 to Alabama-Huntsville on Friday.
