Harding Game Notes
AUSTIN, Texas – The Harding men's basketball team will compete at the St. Edward's Classic for the third time beginning Sunday with a matchup against Texas A&M-Commerce. Monday the Bisons will meet host St. Edward's. The games will be played at the Recreation and Convocation Center in Austin.
Harding enters the Classic 4-3 after losing twice at home last week. The Bisons fell to Christian Brothers 72-60 on Tuesday and 67-63 to #18 Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday. Junior forward Zach Roddenberry led Harding in scoring in both games. He scored a career-high 18 points vs. Christian Brothers and had 11 points against Alabama-Huntsville. Roddenberry leads all Great American Conference players in field goal percentage at 78.6 percent.
Texas A&M-Commerce is a member of the Division II Lone Star Conference. The Lions are 3-6 with two of their wins coming against GAC school Southern Arkansas. TAMU-C snapped a four-game losing streak with a 76-74 victory over SAU on Tuesday in Commerce.
Desmond King, a 6-7 forward from Alexandria, La., leads Texas A&M-Commerce in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (6.1).
Harding and Texas A&M-Commerce will be meeting for the third time with the series split 1-1. The Lions defeated the Bisons 73-70 in Commerce in 1998. Harding won the last meeting 74-71 at the 2003 St. Edward's Classic.
St. Edward's is the sixth-highest scoring team in Division II at 90.6 points per game and enters the weekend with a 5-2 record. The Hilltoppers meet Henderson State on Sunday before playing Harding on Monday.
St. Edward's has made 78 3-pointers in seven games and ranks third in Division II with 11.1 3-pointers per game. The Hilltoppers have shot 94 more 3-pointers than their opponents and have limited foes to 23.3 percent from 3-point range.
Junior Shimeek Johnson, a junior transfer from Fairfield University, leads St. Edward's in scoring at 21.1 points per game. He has made 31-of-61 (50.8%) from 3-point range.
Harding has won all four previous meetings with St. Edward's. The last three games have been played in Austin. The Bisons won the first meeting 80-69 at Reunion Arena in Dallas in 2001.
Harding has a 3-1 record at the St. Edward's Classic. The Bisons defeated St. Edward's (91-89) and lost to Incarnate Word (79-70) in 2006, and defeated both St. Edward's (83-58) and Texas A&M-Commerce (74-71) in 2003.
Following the two games in Austin, Harding is off until Jan. 3, when it hosts Shepherd Tech at the Rhodes Field House. The Bisons begin their first season of Great American Conference play on Jan. 7 against Southern Arkansas in Searcy.
