Box Score

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas connected on 60 percent of its shots and Mulerider junior guard Channin Harden scored 23 points in a 77-59 victory over Harding in men's Gulf South Conference basketball action Thursday night at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

Southern Arkansas' shooting percentage was the highest against Harding in a game this season. The Bisons, who had won their last two games by a combined 93 points, shot just 35 percent overall and made only 5-of-18 (28 percent) from three-point range.

Both teams moved to 1-1 in the GSC West Division. Harding (8-6) returns to Searcy on Saturday to take on undefeated Arkansas Tech, the No. 2 ranked team in NCAA Division II. Southern Arkansas (5-9) snapped a seven-game losing streak and goes back on the road Saturday at Henderson State.

Southern Arkansas used a 12-0 run beginning at the 15:23 mark of the first half to build a 20-7 lead with just under 12 minutes left before halftime. The Muleriders led the rest of the half, but the Bisons scored the final four points before the break to close the Southern Arkansas advantage to 37-32.

The Muleriders opened the second half with three-pointers by Channin Harden and Chase Spruiell and a layup by Tony James that put Southern Arkansas ahead 45-32. Harding never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Harden made 10-of-18 shots from the field, and Spruiell added 16 points for the Muleriders.

Harding juniors Kevin Brown and Stephen Blake both scored 13 points to lead the Bisons.

Harding entered the game as the second-ranked free throw shooting team in the GSC and had made over 70 percent of its free throws in each of the last six games. The Bisons shot only 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) Thursday. Harding has lost all five games this season in which it has shot less than 40 percent from the field.