Box Score SEARCY – A cold night at the free throw line cost Harding as the Bisons fell 69-60 to Ouachita Baptist on Thursday in Great American Conference action at Rhodes Field House.

Harding trailed by 16 points late in the first half but cut Ouachita Baptist's halftime lead to 34-24.

Midway through the second half, Harding had trimmed the lead to 47-43 with 11:16 left. A pair of shooting fouls whistled on the Tigers gave the Bisons chances to cut into the advantage even further, but Harding missed four consecutive free throws.

Following the media timeout, Ouachita Baptist's Austin Mitchell hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the shot clock buzzer sounded, and David Day made a 10-foot jumper to put the Tigers back ahead by nine.

From there, Ouachita Baptist (13-10, 6-7) led by at least six until Harding's Hayden Johnson made a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left cut the lead to 65-60. Ouachita Baptist, who shot 18-of-23 at the free throw line, made four straight down the stretch to close out the victory.

Harding (13-9, 8-4) made only 18-of-34 free throws, including 8-of-18 in the second half. The Bisons shot 40 percent but made only 2-of-15 3-pointers.

Despite suffering its first home loss in conference play, Harding remains in sole possession of third place in the nine-team GAC. The Bisons are two games behind Henderson State and Arkansas Tech, both of whom have 10-2 conference records.

Junior Zach Roddenberry led Harding with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and junior Bradley Spencer had 12 points and four assists.

Michael Morris led Ouachita Baptist with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Nigel Ramsey had 13 points and 11 assists.

Harding has a quick turnaround, playing Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma in Durant. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. and will air live in Searcy on KVHU 95.3-FM and HardingSports.com.