SEARCY, Arkansas – The Ouachita Baptist University Men's Basketball team fended off an almost 20-point rally by the Bisons to pick up an 84-81 win over Harding to open up Great American Conference Play.
The Tigers and Bisons kept it close at the start of the contest, with Ouachita holding on to a slim lead for the first 10 minutes of action before extending the lead to double digits on a layup by T'Vondrick Henry to make the score 29-18. Ouachita would keep at least an eight-point lead for the remainder of the half, with
LaQuan Butler Jr. making a layup with three seconds left give the Tigers a 12 point halftime lead.
Ouachita carried that momentum into the second half, expanding their lead up to 19 points free throws from
Alex Scariolo. The Tigers were up 62-43 with 14:44 on the clock when Harding started to chip away at the near 20-point deficit. The Bisons went on an 11-0 tear over the next four minutes to cut it to a sigle digit difference. Harding would make it a two-point game at the 8:35 mark.
The game would be back and forth over the final eight minutes, with Ouachita's lead ranging from just two to seven points. The Tigers would ice the game on free throws from
Ma'Darius Hobson with 13 seconds left.
Leading the way for the Tigers was
LaQuan Butler Jr., who put up a season-high 20 points and seven assists.
Alex Scariolo was next with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Ma'Darius Hobson came close to hitting a triple-double, putting up a season-high 16 points with nine boards and eight assists.
Next up for the Tigers is the GAC Home opener against the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech Saturday, December 3 at Bill Vining Arena.
