Harding Men's Basketball Defeats Southeastern, Win GAC Regular Season Co-Championship

Jacob Gibson scored 24 points and led Harding to the regular season co-championship.

Box Score SEARCY – Harding men's basketball trailed with just over seven minutes remaining but held Southeastern Oklahoma to only two field goals the rest of the way and defeated the Savage Storm 79-67 on Saturday at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

With the victory Harding improved to 18-9 overall and 17-5 in the Great American Conference. The Bisons tied with East Central for the conference co-championship. Harding will be the No. 1 seed at the GAC Tournament on Thursday in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and take on No. 8 Northwestern Oklahoma at 5:45 p.m.

It is Harding's third regular season conference championship in program history. The Bisons tied for the Gulf South Conference West Division championship in 2008 and tied for the GAC championship in 2013.

In a game that saw six ties and eight lead changes, Harding took the lead for good on a Stefan Andelkovic layup with 6:24 left that gave the Bisons a 62-61 lead. Southeastern shot only 2-for-12 the rest of the way, and Harding pulled away for the victory.

Harding, the GAC's leader in 3-pointers, made 14-of-26 from 3-point range, hitting seven in each half. Southeastern made eight 3-pointers in the first half, but shot 1-of-14 from long range in the second half.

Jacob Gibson, playing his 100th career game, made seven 3-pointers and led Harding with 24 points. He has made 81 3-pointers and became the first Bison to make more than 80 3-pointers in a season twice. He made 82 3-pointers in 2013-14.

Senior Blake McNair made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points. He also led Harding with seven rebounds. Andelkovic had 15 points and six rebounds. Will Francis scored 11 points, and Reggie Anthony had 10 points and six assists.

DJ Henderson led Southeastern with 26 points. He made 10-of-14 field goals, including 4-of-7 3-pointers. Mari Fonolla was the only other Storm player with more than 10 points. He had 12 and a team-high eight rebounds.

Harding has played its tournament foe, Northwestern Oklahoma, twice this season. The Bisons won 82-63 in Alva, Oklahoma, on Nov. 19, and won 84-64 in Searcy on Jan. 28.

by Sterling McMichael
Posted by Harding Sports on Saturday, February 27, 2016

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Players Mentioned

#3 Reggie Anthony: G; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#21 Will Francis: G; 6' 5"; Junior

#15 Jacob Gibson: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#23 Blake McNair: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#42 Stefan Andelkovic: F; 6' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Reggie Anthony
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: G

#21 Will Francis
: 6' 5"; Junior
: G

#15 Jacob Gibson
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#23 Blake McNair
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#42 Stefan Andelkovic
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F