MONTICELLO, Ark. – The 16th-ranked Harding men's basketball team plays its third of four games in a one-week span Thursday against Arkansas-Monticello at the Steelman Field House. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live in Searcy on KVHU 95.3-FM. Live audio and live stats will be available on HardingSports.com.
Harding enters the game 19-3 overall, its best-ever 22-game start. The Bisons are 9-1 in the Gulf South Conference West Division, just one game behind division leader Arkansas Tech. Harding has won its last four games.
The Bisons are coming off a 97-79 victory over Southern Arkansas on Monday. It was Harding's highest-scoring output of the season. Senior guard Stephen Blake led Harding with a career-high 34 points, hitting five 3-pointers and making 13-of-14 free throws. Junior forward Kirk Porter added 22 points and nine rebounds.
Arkansas-Monticello enters the game 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the GSC West. The Boll Weevils are in fifth place, one game behind Christian Brothers for the fourth guaranteed berth in the upcoming GSC Tournament.
UAM has lost three of its last four games and is coming off an 81-75 loss at Henderson State on Monday. The combination of junior guard LA Farmer (26 points), junior forward Ricardo Hall (25 points) and junior guard Sergio Crowe (12 points) scored 63 of the Boll Weevils' 75 points.
Harding won the first meeting between the teams this season, 80-75 in overtime, on Jan. 24 in Searcy. The Bisons had four players score 10 or more points, led by Porter with 18. Crowe led Arkansas-Monticello with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Harding made 9-of-11 free throws in overtime to pull away.
