Rowan Ledbetter saved his best game for his final collegiate contest of his career, scoring a career-high 31 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team dropped its final game of the season, 72-64, to Harding in a Gulf South Conference West Division game at the Rhodes Field House on Saturday.
Ledbetter, who struggled from the field in his final home game Thursday against rival Henderson State, was 9-of-20 from the floor, including six 3-pointers to finish with a game-high and career-high 31 points. Daniel Maddox scored 13 and Brandon Rose chipped in with 12 as the Tigers (13-15 overall, 3-12 GSC West) were 22-of-57 (39 percent) shooting and 12-of-16 (75 percent) from the free-throw line.
Ouachita held a 20-15 advantage midway through the first half after a jumper by Belford Williams, but Harding (17-11, 7-8) battled back and took a 31-26 lead after a Trent Morgan layup with 4:43 remaining in the first half.
The Bisons led by as many as five with less than two minutes left in the opening half, but Ouachita trimmed the deficit to 34-32 before half.
The Tigers began the second half on a 9-0 run, capped by a Ledbetter layup to give Ouachita a 41-34 lead with 17:36 left. But Harding proved to be too much, using a 21-4 run, capped by a Kirk Porter layup with 9:27 remaining to give the Bisons a 55-45 advantage.
Ouachita never recovered in dropping the season finale to Harding.
Matt Garner was 5-of-5 from the field, including three 3-pointers to lead the Bisons with 13 points. Matt Ragsdale added 10 as Harding was 26-of-53 (49 percent) shooting and 15-of-24 (63 percent) from the free-throw line.
