SEARCY – Harding men's basketball scored the first 16 points of the game and cruised to a 96-63 victory over Champion Christian Tuesday at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

It was the second straight win for the Bisons (2-1), who play Saturday in Searcy against Dallas Christian.

Harding pushed its lead to 58-25 at halftime with Romio Harvey scoring 21 of his game-high 33 points in the first half. He shot 11 of 17 from the field and made four of Harding's 10 3-pointers.

Through Harding's first three games, Harvey is averaging 29.3 points.

Harding shot 57% in the first 20 minutes and limited Champion Christian, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, to only 29%.

Both teams scored 38 points in the second half.

Joel Polius had 13 points and nine rebounds for Harding, and freshman Talby Justus scored 12 in his Harding debut.

De'Andre Butler led Champion Christian (2-2) with 14 points. Derrick Gunn had 10.