Skip To Main Content

Harding University Athletics

74
Southern Ark. M-1376
75
Winner Harding M-1116
Southern Ark. M-1376
74
Final
75
Harding M-1116
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Southern Ark. M-1376 30 44 74
Harding M-1116 40 35 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | by Scott Goode (12/1/18)

Harding Holds Off SAU to Earn Second Straight GAC Home Victory

SEARCY – Harding made its last nine shots Saturday and held off a late Southern Arkansas run to defeat the Muleriders 75-74 and sweep its two-game Great American Conference opening weekend at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Harding (4-3, 2-0) also won Thursday 65-63 over Arkansas-Monticello in overtime to start GAC play 2-0 for the third time in the conference's eight seasons.

Southern Arkansas (6-2, 1-1) had its six-game winning streak snapped and lost its second straight in Searcy.

No Southern Arkansas opponent had shot better than 40 percent from the field this season, but Harding made 15-of-24 shots in the second half and shot 48.2 percent for the game.

Much of Harding's strong shooting night came in the paint on drives from Romen Martin and JV Long. Martin led Harding with a career-high 23 points, and Long added 21. Harding outscored Southern Arkansas 40-28 in the lane.

Harding trailed 64-59 with 7:00 left after Southern Arkansas' Aaron Lucas made a 3-pointer from the right wing. Harding answered with a J.P. Brandon jumper in the paint with 6:38 left, and Harding did not miss the rest of the game.

Colin Hale and Jordan West both made key 3-pointers, Hale's giving Harding a 66-64 lead with 5:22 left. Long scored in the paint with 2:31 remaining to cap a 14-0 Harding run and made another layup with 1:19 left to give Harding a 75-66 lead.

Southern Arkansas rallied late, scoring eight straight points, but Martin forced a turnover on the Muleriders' final possession before Southern Arkansas could get off the potential game-winning shot.

Southern Arkansas had four players with 10 points or more, led by Jalen Brooks with 18.

Southern Arkansas made five 3-pointers early in the game and led by as many as 12 points, but Harding stayed in the game by getting to the free-throw line. Harding was 13-of-17 from the line in the first half.

Harding made just two of its first 16 shots from the field but made 10 of its next 16 and led 40-30 at halftime. After its 2-for-16 start, Harding shot 63 percent for the rest of the game.

Harding will look to start a GAC season 3-0 for the first time Saturday when the Bisons take on Henderson State at 3 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

FACTS AND FIGURES
  • Harding and Southern Nazarene are the only two teams to win their first two conference games
  • Harding also opened the 2011-12 and 2016-17 seasons by winning its first two conference games
  • Harding was the first team to score 75 or more points against Southern Arkansas
  • The win was the 437th in the career of Harding head coach Jeff Morgan, his 420th with Harding and his 34th against Southern Arkansas (the most against any opponent)
  • Southern Arkansas leads the series 72-56, but Harding leads 36-24 in Searcy
  • Harding entered the game ranked third in the GAC with 7.8 steals per game and had 10 steals vs. SAU
  • SAU's Devante Brooks entered the game with a GAC-high 63 rebounds and had 13 vs. Harding, the most by a Bison opponent this season
  • Southern Arkansas made only 6-of-16 free throws (37.5 percent), the lowest percentage by a Harding opponent this season
Print Friendly Version