SEARCY – Harding made four of its seven shot attempts in overtime and held on to defeat Oklahoma Baptist 72-69 Thursday in Great American Conference men’s basketball action at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Harding held Oklahoma Baptist without a field goal for an 11-minute stretch of the second half, but Oklahoma Baptist scored six points in the last 1:26 of regulation to force overtime at 63-63.

Harding (4-17, 4-12) went on a 16-2 run during the span where Oklahoma Baptist missed 16 consecutive shots.

Harding scored the first five points in overtime on a Tim Wagner layup and Zac Ward‘s 3-pointer. The Bisons led by three on a Wagner jumper with 42 seconds left. Oklahoma Baptist missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Wagner came off the bench to lead Harding with 26 points. He was 9 of 18 from the field. Ward made five 3-pointers and scored 15 points. Adam Horn scored eight points and had a season-high 13 rebounds.

Freshman Harrison Stoddart led Oklahoma Baptist with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Brantly Thompson and Vladimir Nemcok had 15 each.

Oklahoma Baptist shot only 29 percent (21 of 73) and was 5 of 32 (16 percent) from 3-point range. Thompson made all five of his team’s 3-pointers. The rest of the team was 0 of 22.

Harding shot 38 percent overall and made 12 3-pointers.

Harding won for the third time in its last four games and moved to within three games of the final GAC Tournament spot with six games remaining. The Bisons will be back at home Saturday to host nationally ranked Southern Nazarene.

Oklahoma Baptist (9-13, 6-10) remained winless in its four trips to Searcy and is one game out of the last tournament spot.

The post Harding sinks Oklahoma Baptist in overtime appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

DURANT, Okla. – Harding made 10 3-pointers but shot only 32 percent in its Great American Conference and season opener Thursday and fell 70-60 to Southeastern Oklahoma at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.

Harding (0-1, 0-1) led early, taking a 13-9 lead on Tim Wagner’s jumper with 13:12 left in the first half. Southeastern’s Markell Henderson then scored seven straight points, and the Savage Storm led the rest of the way.

Henderson scored all 23 of his points in the first half led Southeastern to a 41-34 halftime lead.

Preston Anderson hit a 3-pointer to open the second half and pull Harding within four, but Southeastern (1-2, 1-0) scored the next seven points and led by at least five the rest of the way.

Wagner made four 3-pointers and led Harding with 18 points. Adam Horn added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Bisons were 10 of 21 from 3-point range, but 9 of 38 inside the arc. Harding had only seven field goals in the second half.

Southeastern was only 8 of 35 (23 percent) from 3-point range but had a 45-37 rebound advantage and outscored Harding 24-16 in the paint.

Harding plays its second game of the two-game Oklahoma road trip Saturday at East Central in Ada.

The post Bison drop season and GAC opener at Southeastern Oklahoma appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.