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2023 Basketball vs. Central Missouri.jpg
59
Harding Hard 0-2,0-0 GAC
62
Winner Central Mo. CentMo 2-0,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Harding Hard
0-2,0-0 GAC
59
Final
62
Central Mo. CentMo
2-0,0-0 Mid-America Intercollegiate
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Harding Hard 23 36 59
Central Mo. CentMo 29 33 62

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Scott Goode (11/11/23)

Smith Notches Double-Double; Harding Falls to Central Missouri

FORT SMITH, Ark. – Leading with less than four minutes remaining, Harding could not hold on and fell 62-59 Saturday to Central Missouri at the GAC-MIAA Challenge, played at Southside High School.

Harding dropped to 0-2 with the loss and opens its home schedule Tuesday against Baptist Bible.

The Bisons trailed 47-36 with 13:14 left in the game, but an 8-0 scoring run that included four Abou Gbane free throws, and buckets from Sam Smith and Samuel Henderson moved Harding ahead 55-52 with 4:55 left. Central Missouri scored the next eight points to pull away for good.

Sam Smith led Harding with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Gbane, a transfer from Roberts Wesleyan, made his Harding debut and scored 12 points, eight coming from the free-throw line. Keyln McBride scored 10 points and had a team-high five assists.

TEAM NOTES
  • More than half of Harding's points came in the paint … the Bisons outscored the Mules 32-26 in the lane.
  • Harding made only three 3-pointers after connecting on eight in the season opener.
  • Harding limited Central Missouri to only 36.7% shooting, after Lincoln (MO) shot 54.5% in the opener.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
  • Smith's 16-point, 10-rebound double-double is his first as a Bison.
  • Abou Gbane played 18 minutes in his Harding debut and made 8 of 12 free throws … he was fouled seven times in his time on the floor.
  • Keyln McBride was 1 of 3 from 3-point range and has made at least one 3-pointer in 28 of his 30 career games.
SERIES NOTES
  • Central Missouri leads the series 2-1 and has won the last two.
UP NEXT
  • Harding hosts Baptist Bible on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Bisons have won all six meetings between the teams but last played in 1981.
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