SEARCY – For the Harding men's basketball team to stay in the hunt for the inaugural Great American Conference regular season championship, the Bisons need a pair of wins in games at Rhodes Field House on Thursday and Saturday.
Harding, 8-8 overall and 3-3 in GAC play, hosts Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Bisons are 5-2 at home this season and have won three straight at Rhodes, including both of their home conference games. Harding has a 14-point victory over Southern Arkansas and a 20-point win over Southeastern Oklahoma State in those games.
Harding's struggles have come on the road, where the Bisons are just 1-3 in GAC games and are coming off a 69-57 loss to Arkansas Tech at Tucker Coliseum on Monday. Harding shot a season-low 34.7 percent from the field and made only 2-of-17 3-pointers.
Senior Kirk Porter has been Harding's top offensive threat of late, leading the team in scoring in each of its last two games. Porter had 16 points against Southeastern Oklahoma and 13 points against Arkansas Tech, coming off the bench in both games.
Arkansas-Monticello is one of four teams tied at 4-2 in conference play, a game behind conference leader Henderson State. The Boll Weevils are 14-4 overall and 4-3 in road games. UAM is coming off a 76-73 road loss to Southern Arkansas on Monday but has won eight of its last 10 games.
Arkansas-Monticello senior guard L.A. Farmer is the reigning GAC Player of the Week. He averaged 27.5 points per game in two Boll Weevil victories last week. He is second in the GAC in scoring, averaging 21.0 points, while playing a conference-high 37.2 minutes per game.
Harding and Arkansas-Monticello have played 108 times since 1957 with the Boll Weevils leading the series 56-52. Harding won 67-57 in Searcy last season to snap a four-game UAM winning streak in the series. The Bisons lead the series 33-22 in Searcy and have won three of the last four played at Rhodes.
On Saturday, Harding hosts Henderson State. The admissions office at Harding is calling for a “white-out” with all fans wearing white.
In addition, the first 1,500 fans will receive a complimentary foam spirit noodle to use during the games to cheer the Lady Bisons and Bisons to victory. The women's game begins at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game to follow.
