RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Harding could not overcome its poorest shooting night of the season and fell 69-57 to Arkansas Tech in Great American Conference action Monday at Tucker Coliseum.

Arkansas Tech (12-4, 4-2) defeated Harding for the fifth straight time in Russellville and remained a game out of the lead in the GAC. The Bisons (8-8, 3-3) lost their third straight road conference game after opening GAC action with a road win over East Central.

Harding shot 34.7 percent and missed its first 12 3-pointers before junior Matt Walters made one from the left corner with just over nine minutes left in the game. It was just the second time this season the Bisons shot below 40 percent in a game.

The Bisons made only six field goals in the first half, but trailed only 24-18 at halftime as Harding's defense limited the Wonder Boys to only 8-of-26 from the field.

Harding's shooting woes continued early in the second half and Arkansas Tech built its lead to 17 points, 40-23, outscoring the Bisons 16-5 in the first ten minutes of the period.

Harding used a late run to trim the Arkansas Tech lead down to 59-52 with just over two minutes left, but Tech's Will Paul hit a layup, was fouled and made the free throw to put the Wonder Boys back up by 10.

The Bisons made only 2-of-17 from 3-point range. Junior DeAntra Scott made Harding's second 3-pointer with just over a minute left.

Senior Kirk Porter led Harding in scoring for the second straight game, hitting 5-of-8 shots and scoring 13 points. Porter also had nine rebounds. Senior Andrew Silverman added 11 points, and junior Bradley Spencer had 10 points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds.

Jared Williamson led Tech with 21 points and made 11-of-14 free throws. The Wonder Boys shot just 38.5 percent but made eight 3-pointers.

The game was the third of five in a 10-day stretch for Harding. The Bisons host Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday and Henderson State on Saturday at the Rhodes Field House. Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.