Harding University Athletics

Box Score

Jacob Gibson scored a GAC-record 40 points to lead the Bisons.

Southern Arkansas SAUM 17-13

Harding HU 20-9

Southern Arkansas SAUM

17-13

Final

Mar. 05, 2016

Harding HU

20-9

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Southern Arkansas SAUM	34	49	83
Harding HU	50	47	97

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/5/2016 6:08:00 PM | by Scott Goode (3/5/16)

Gibson Nets 40 Points to Send Harding in GAC Tournament Championship

Next Game:

vs. Ouachita Baptist University

3/6/2016 | 1 p.m.

Next Game

Full Schedule

Mar. 06 (Sun) / 1 p.m.

vs. Ouachita Baptist University

History

Recap
Roster

Highlights/Postgame Interview with Coach Morgan

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Senior guard Jacob Gibson scored a Great American Conference record 40 points to lead No. 1 seed Harding into the GAC Tournament finals for the second time in the last three seasons. The Bisons defeated No. 5 seed Southern Arkansas 97-83 on Saturday and will meet Ouachita Baptist in the championship at 1 p.m.

Harding (20-9) earned its 20th victory for the sixth time in program history, last reaching the mark in 2012-13. Southern Arkansas' season ended with its third loss to Harding this season and fifth straight overall. The Muleriders (17-13) have lost all three meeting with the Bisons at the GAC Tournament.

After Will Francis made a layup to open the scoring for Harding, Gibson scored the next 15 points for the Bisons. He had 27 in the first half, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, 4-of-5 from 3-point range and all seven free throws.

Gibson's efforts led Harding to a 50-34 halftime lead.

The Bisons pushed the lead to 17 points six times in the second half, but the Muleriders continued to come back. Southern Arkansas closed to with nine, 86-77, with 3:32 left, but Harding answered with five straight points. Gibson and Stefan Andelkovic hit layups, and Francis made two free throws.

The 40-point Gibson performance was the sixth by a Harding player. The last player to score more than 40 was Tiago Lewis, who had 42 points against Philander Smith in 1992. Gibson was the first player ever to score 40 points in a GAC game.

TEAM STATS
Harding scored 97 points, its highest total in a GAC Tournament game. The Bisons scored 93 against Henderson State in their double-overtime GAC championship game in 2014.

Harding outscored Southern Arkansas 32-12 at the free-throw line. The Bisons entered the game with the fewest free-throw attempts of any conference team, and Southern Arkansas had the fourth most.

Southern Arkansas had 18 offensive rebounds to Harding's seven and outscored the Bisons 18-10 on second-chance points.

Harding forced 12 turnovers and committed only nine and outscored Southern Arkansas 17-8 off turnovers.

Harding made seven 3-pointers in the game and surpassed the 300 3-pointer plateau for the third straight season.

INDIVIDUAL STATS
Gibson finished the game 12-for-20 overall, 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and made all 11 of his free-throw attempts. He also led the team with eight rebounds.

Francis and Anthony both scored 18 points for Harding. Anthony had 17 of his in the second half after going to the bench early in the first half with two fouls.
Francis was 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Andelkovic was Harding's top reserve, scoring 12 points and pulling down five rebounds.

Southern Arkansas had five players with 10 or more points, led by Deon Andrews with 17.