THE RUNDOWN

The long-awaited home opener for the Ouachita Baptist men's basketball team ended victoriously, as the Tigers held on for a 78-74 win over Harding at Bill Vining Arena on Saturday. DJ Kane's layup with 60 seconds left in the game put the Tigers ahead for good, and Kendarious Smith scored five points in the final 21 seconds to keep the Bisons at bay.

Ouachita took control early, jumping out to a 14-5 lead that dwindled to a 29-29 tie at halftime. Dennis Nutt's crew regained a slim lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but after the under-16:00 media timeout, Harding regained the lead and kept it until after the 3:00 minute mark in the second half.

To pick up the victory, Ouachita had to outlast a hot-shooting Bison squad that made 14 of its 31 three-point attempts. The Tigers were able to capitalize on Harding's mistakes, scoring 23 points off of 21 turnovers.

Deaveon Bankston led Ouachita with 17 points on six-of-eight shooting from the floor. Matt Stanley added 12 points. Smith's seven rebounds were a game-high. 

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

- The Tigers entered the game just one day of practice removed from a 14-day layoff due to COVID-19 contact tracing. Saturday's game was the Tigers' first action since January 9 at Southern Arkansas.
- Ouachita has now won nine of its last 10 home openers
- Smith increased his career scoring total to 835, 165 points shy of joining Ouachita's 1,000-point club.

BY THE NUMBERS

10 - Saturday's tight contest saw 10 lead changes and seven ties
14 - Harding's 14 made three-pointers were a season-high
57.8 - The Tigers held the lead for 57.8 percent of the game