Photo Gallery

HIGHLIGHTS

Harding: Hayden Johnson – 24 points; Jacob Gibson – 21 points, 7 rebounds; John Hudson – 13 points.

Ouachita Baptist: Allen Buchanan – 12 points

SEARCY – Harding senior Hayden Johnson scored 24 points and Jacob Gibson added 21 to lead the Bisons to an 81-64 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at Rhodes Field House.

Harding improved to 12-9 overall and 9-6 in the Great American Conference and defeated Ouachita Baptist for the eight times in the last nine meetings in Searcy. The Bisons are in fourth place among teams eligible for the conference tournament and play a makeup game at Henderson State on Monday at 7 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed when the scoreboard at the Duke Wells Center malfunctioned.

Ouachita Baptist fell to 7-15 overall and 4-12 in GAC games. The Tigers are tied with Southeastern Oklahoma for the eighth and final GAC Tournament berth.

Harding fell behind Ouachita Baptist early in the game and trailed 30-18 with 4:59 left in the first half. Over the remaining time in the first half and the first five minutes of the second half, the Bisons outscored the Tigers 29-3. Harding tied the game at 31-31 on a 3-pointer by John Hudson with just over a minute left before halftime, and Gibson's layup with 36 seconds left gave the Bisons a 33-31 advantage at the break.

Harding opened the second half by scoring the first six points and pushed the lead out to 14 points at 47-33 on another Gibson layup with 15:09 left in the game.

Ouachita Baptist cut the lead back to three points at 51-48 with 11:18 left. That was as close as the Tigers got in the second half. Harding led 65-55 at the 4:48 mark and put the game away with an 11-2 run over the next two minutes. The Bisons shot 63 percent in the second half and made six 3-pointers.

Johnson shot 7-of-11 from the field and made 9-of-10 free throws. Gibson made three 3-pointers and lead Harding with seven rebounds. Hudson scored a career-high 13 points, hitting two 3-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws.

Allen Buchanan led Ouachita Baptist with 12 points. Eric Braeuer had 10. Colt Fason, who entered the game as the Tigers' leading scorer, did not enter the game until the 17-minute mark of the second half. He played 16 minutes and scored 10 points before fouling out.