Postgame Interview with Jeff Morgan
ADA, Okla. – Harding senior Blake McNair drilled a game-tying, 30-foot 3-pointer with less than a second left in regulation, and sophomore Reggie Anthony made two key layups in overtime to lift the Bisons to a 96-93 victory over East Central on Thursday at the Kerr Activities Center. It was the 400th victory in the career of Harding head coach Jeff Morgan.
Harding trimmed a 14-point second half deficit down to one on five occasions, and McNair caught a tipped pass from Will Francis on a rebound and hit the game-tying shot from the top of the key.
Anthony, who scored a career-high 25 points, gave Harding the lead for good at 93-91 on a driving layup with 2:09 left as the shot clock neared zero. He again beat the shot clock on his next drive, flipping up an underhanded layup from outside the paint at the 1:29 mark that fell to give Harding a 95-91 advantage.
East Central made three free throws in the overtime period, but the Bisons held the Tigers without a field goal. East Central missed all five attempts in overtime.
East Central had 19 offensive rebounds in the game and outscored Harding 25-4 on second-chance points. The Bisons first second-chance field goal was McNair's shot to send the game into overtime.
Harding trailed 50-37 at halftime, with East Central using a pair of 8-0 runs and a 6-0 run to close the half to build the 13-point lead.
Jacob Gibson made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points. Francis scored all 17 of his points in the second half, and McNair scored 16 points. Francis led Harding with five rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers.
Braxton Reeves led East Central with 26 points. Ishmael Donzo had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Stirling Thomas, the GAC's scoring leader, had 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
RECORDS
Harding improved to 5-5 overall and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the GAC at 4-1. Southwestern Oklahoma and Arkansas Tech are also tied for first. East Central dropped to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the GAC. It was Harding's first victory in Ada since 2012.
TEAM STATS
Harding shot 54 percent from the field and made 13-of-28 3-pointers. It was Harding's fourth straight game with 10 or more 3-pointers and the third time this season the Bisons shot over 50 percent.
East Central outrebounded Harding 48-27.
Harding entered the game as the GAC's leader in assist-to-turnover ratio and had 23 assists and only 13 turnovers against East Central.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Anthony made 9-of-12 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws. His previous career high was 16 points, set against Minnesota State-Moorhead earlier this season.
Gibson's 20-point game was his second of the season. He had 23 against Oklahoma Baptist on Dec. 5. Gibson made five 3-pointers to push his career total to 157. He moved past Hayden Johnson (153, 2010-14) and Darren McCrillis (156, 2000-04) into fourth place on Harding's career 3-point list.
Francis had 17 second-half points for the second consecutive game. He also scored 17 against Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 10.
Freshman Braden Eggleston played 20 minutes and scored a career-high 10 points.
UP NEXT
Harding plays the second game of the two-game Oklahoma road trip Saturday at 3 p.m. against Southeastern Oklahoma in Durant.
