SEARCY – The Harding men's basketball team, in first place in the Great American Conference standings, will look to atone for one of its two conference losses Saturday as it hosts East Central at 4 p.m. at the Rhodes Field House.
The Bisons are 15-3 overall and 8-2 in conference play. One of those two losses came on Dec. 6 against East Central, as Harding fell 75-60. That was the first of three losses in a four-game stretch, but since then, the Bisons have not been beaten.
Harding has won its last eight games, only one short of the school-record nine-game winning streak in 2008, and has a two-game lead in the GAC standings. The Bisons have won all 11 of their games at the Rhodes this season, a feat accomplished only twice before by Harding's men's basketball teams.
The latest of those home victories came Thursday as Harding defeated Arkansas Tech 72-64 at Rhodes. The Bisons had four players in double figures, led by senior Bradley Spencer with 15 points. Junior Hayden Johnson scored 13 points, Andraz Kavas scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and Zach Roddenberry had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
East Central (6-10, 3-7) lost its first seven road games of the season, but upset Southeastern Oklahoma State on Thursday in Durant, winning 68-67. The victory moved the Tigers into eighth in the GAC standings. Only eighth of the nine teams in the conference advance to the GAC Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., in March.
Tiger junior Colby Carr scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds in the victory over Southeastern Oklahoma. Carr was also one of three East Central players that scored in double figures in its victory over Harding in December.
Harding shot only 33 percent in the second half of the game in Ada and was outscored by 16 points in the second half after leading 33-32 at halftime. Johnson led Harding with 16 points, and Roddenberry had 13.
The game will air live in Searcy on KVHU 95.3-FM with Billy Morgan and Scott Goode on the call. Live audio, video and statistics will be available on HardingSports.com.
