Antonio Benjamin’s shot with three seconds fell short and the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team couldn’t get another shot off as the Tigers dropped a heartbreaker, 69-67, against Harding in a Gulf South Conference West Division game Saturday at Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita (12-8 overall, 2-5 GSC West) trailed by as many as 17 points, 45-28, with a little under 13 minutes to play. The Tigers started chipping away at the Bisons lead and cut the deficit to 57-47 after a Daniel Maddox 3-pointer with 7:44 remaining.
Harding couldn’t get much going offensively with a stifling Ouachita defense and the Tigers closed the gap to 65-63 after another Maddox three with 3:25 left. A jumper by Steven Barnett gave the Bisons a 68-65 lead with 2 minutes remaining.
Ouachita cut the deficit to 68-67 after two shots at the line by Belford Williams, but Barnett made one-of-two at the charity stripe to give Harding a 69-67 advantage.
Maddox came off the bench to lead the Tigers for the second straight game, pouring in a game-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. He was 3-of-4 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 at the charity stripe. Rowan Ledbetter finished with 14 points, while Quintin Smith added 13 as Ouachita was 21-of-53 (40 percent) shooting and 19-of-24 (79 percent) from the free-throw line.
The Tigers struggled from the floor in the opening half, shooting just 5-of-24 (21 percent) as the Bisons raced out to a 19-13 advantage after a Sam Brown 3-pointer with 6:22 remaining in the opening half.
Ouachita trimmed the deficit to 22-19 after three straight free throws by Ledbetter with 2:45 left. But Harding closed out the first half on a 7-2 run to take a 29-21 lead into the break.
The Tigers were 0-of-5 from behind the arc, but were 11-of-13 (85 percent) from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Bisons were 10-of-24 (42 percent) shooting and 4-of-11 (36 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
Barnett paced Harding (13-7, 3-4) with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Sam Brown scored 15 and Kevin Brown recorded a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds. Trent Morgan added 10 points as the Bisons were 22-of-45 (49 percent) shooting and 19-of-26 (73 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ouachita continues Gulf South Conference West Division action 8:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 5 against Delta State at Bill Vining Arena. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
