AUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's guard Khaliq Gross had the best shooting ever by a Harding opponent and led the Hilltoppers to a 99-81 victory over the Bisons on Monday at the St. Edward's Holiday Classic.

Gross, a senior from Albany, N.Y., was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field, including six 3-pointers, and scored 29 points. The only two shots he missed were at the free throw line, where he was only 5-of-7.

Harding junior Zach Roddenberry shot almost as well. He connected on 9-of-11 from the field and made all six free throws for a career-high 24 points. He also led the team with seven rebounds.

There were five lead changes early in the game. Harding cut St. Edward's advantage to 43-37 on a pair of free throws by Bradley Spencer with 4:38 left in the first half. The Hilltoppers went on a 13-4 run to close out the half. During the stretch, Harding made only 1-of-10 shots, a 3-pointer by Hayden Johnson with 9 seconds left until halftime. St. Edward's led 56-41 at the break.

Harding closed to within 12 points when Johnson made a layup to cut the lead to 84-72 with 6:13 left. St. Edward's then went on an 8-2 run and led by as many as 21 down the stretch.

St. Edward's (6-3) lost 95-92 to Henderson State on Sunday but responded by shooting 58 percent from the field against Harding. The Hilltoppers, who averaged 11.1 3-pointers, connected on 17 3s against the Bisons. It was the most 3-pointers by a Harding opponent since Southwest Baptist made 18 in 2004.

Harding (4-5), which lost its fourth straight, shot 44 percent from the field, but made only 5-of-18 3-pointers. The Bisons had their best effort of the season at the free throw line, making 20-of-23 (87.0 percent).

Johnson had his second straight outstanding outing for the Bisons. After scoring a career-high 19 points against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday, Johnson scored 18 against St. Edward's. He was 7-of-9 from the field and made both 3-point attempts.

Gross, who was coming off a 30-point effort against Henderson State, is the first player to make nine shots without a miss against Harding. The previous record was 7-of-7 by Prince Barnes of Northeastern State in 1998 and Zach Johnson of Louisiana Tech in 2001. Milton Nance of North Alabama also went 6-of-6 from 3-point range against Harding in 2006.

Harding has still not allowed an opponent to score 100 points in a game since defeating West Florida 107-102 in 2004.

The game was the final contest of 2011 for the Bisons. Harding is back in action Jan. 3 when it hosts Shepherd Tech at the Rhodes Field House.