Box Score

SEARCY — Junior Trent Morgan scored 20 points and senior Brian Howard added 15 points as the Harding Bisons defeated the Ecclesia Royals 87-38 at the Rhodes Field House on Saturday night.

Saturday's defensive success marked only the third time since 1958 that the Bisons have allowed less than 40 points in a game. The Bisons defeated Arkansas-Monticello 39-36 in 1988 and Arkansas Baptist 93-36 in 2000.

The game was close early, but Harding finished last four minutes of the first half on an 11-2 run and pulled away to a 32-22 halftime lead.

“I thought we have a good last five or six minutes of the first half,” Harding coach Jeff Morgan said. “Defensively, I think they got a little tired in the second half. We kicked it up a notch, and then got off to a good start in the second half.”

Ecclesia struggled to score in the second half. After Beau Tillery scored a jumper 38 seconds into the half, the Royals did not score another field goal for the next 12 minutes. Philip McCartney snapped the draught with a jumper with 8:46 remaining, and by that point, Harding had built a 64-30 lead.

Morgan said that although his team has often been focused to begin games this season, the team has sometimes struggled to maintain that mindset to open the second half.

“We've had two or three games where we haven't got off to a good start in the second half,” Morgan said. “Sometimes, it is not a lack of effort, it's been a lack of focus or something. I thought we came out and just did a good job in the first five minutes.”

In the second half, Harding outscored Ecclesia 55-16. Harding made 18 of 27 shots (66.7 percent) in the half while the Royals hit 6 of 19 attempts and turned the ball over 16 times.

Trent Morgan hit 6 of 10 field goals, including three three-pointers. Morgan has scored 20 or more points in four games this season. Howard tied a season high with 15 points and had 10 rebounds. Sophomore Kevin Brown scored 11 points in 20 minutes.

No Ecclesia player scored 10 points, and Oscar Sealy led the team with nine points.

The Bisons will host three games next week. Tuesday, Harding will play Missouri S&T, the only team that has defeated the Bisons this year. The game is set for approximately 7:30 p.m.