MONTICELLO, Ark. – Arkansas-Monticello guard Jamal Peterson hit a key 3-pointer and made two late free throws to lead the Boll Weevils to a 71-68 victory over Harding on Saturday in Great American Conference play at Steelman Field House.
The loss was Harding's fourth straight by three points or fewer and dropped the Bisons to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Arkansas-Monticello improved to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the GAC. Six of the last seven meetings between the Bisons and Boll Weevils have been decided by seven points or fewer.
Harding's Johnthan McGee made a layup with 1:45 left in the game to give Harding a 67-66 lead, its first lead since the 8:33 mark of the first half. But Peterson answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Boll Weevils the lead back at 69-67.
Andraz Kavas made 1-of-2 free throws to pull the Bisons to within a point with 48.6 seconds remaining. The Bisons fouled Peterson on the Boll Weevils' next trip, and he hit both free throws to give Arkansas-Monticello the three-point lead.
Harding had two 3-point looks on its last possession, but Gibson's long attempt from the top of the key just missed, and McGee's attempt came after the buzzer.
"I thought we executed exactly what we wanted to do," Harding head coach Jeff Morgan said. "We got Jacob Gibson a pretty good look under the circumstances."
Gibson led Harding with 21 points, and McGee scored 19 points. Kavas had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Peterson and Richard Benedyth led Arkansas-Monticello with 16 points each.
Harding opened an early 23-11 lead on McGee layup with 11:18 left in the first half. The Bisons did not score again until a layup by Gibson with 3:07 left. During the drought, Arkansas-Monticello went on a 20-0 run and held a 31-23 lead. The Boll Weevils were 8-of-10 from the field during that stretch, and Harding went 0-of-9 from the field with seven turnovers.
"The turnovers in the first half were huge," Morgan said. "You can't give up a 20-0 run, but I thought we answered the bell and got ourselves back in the game in the second half."
Gibson was the only Harding player to score in the final 11 minutes of the first half. He followed his layup with a pair of 3-pointers.
A Harding turnover on its last possession of the half led to a layup by Peterson at the buzzer that gave Arkansas-Monticello a 39-31 halftime lead.
"Our guys are hurting, but I told them that it is not as bad as it feels," Morgan said. "Playing in the GAC is a marathon. We are 1-2 in conference, and we have 17 more games to play. When we come out of this, we are going to be a really tough team."
Harding returns to the Rhodes Field House next Saturday to host Henderson State at 7:30 p.m.
