ARKADELPHIA — The Ouachita men's basketball team took over first place in the Great American Conference Thursday after a commanding 66-55 victory over Harding inside Bill Vining Arena.
Harding struck first and took its lone lead when senior Keyln McBride broke the ice with a baseline jumper. Ouachita instantly retaliated with a display of crisp ball movement to seize control with a 10-0 scoring run and never relinquished the lead. Freshman Jaxon Conley knocked down a corner three, then a pair of Ouachita seniors connected as PJ Neal found Devon Hancock wide open to bury a three from the right wing. Hancock dropped a game-high 24 points for the Tigers on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting, while knocking down 4-for-5 3-pointers.
Hancock made an impact in every facet of the game, either scoring or assisting on the Tigers first five made baskets. He led Ouachita with a game-high nine rebounds and was a maestro in the pick and roll. Hancock slipped an assist inside to junior Christian Parks, then followed up with a pull-up mid-range jumper. The Dallas native punctuated his early scoring surge with a highlight reel play, swiping a steal and finishing the fast break with a one-handed slam to give the Tigers a 12-4 lead and force Harding to burn an early timeout.
Sophomore Crew Flowers got active to score on consecutive possessions, using a pump fake to get his defender in the air and hit a side-step three. He followed up driving the baseline to finish at the rim with a finger roll. Conley crashed the glass to snag an offensive board and scored a putback layup to give the Tigers a 30-28 lead at halftime.
Ouachita continued moving the ball around the horn as five quick passes landed in the hands of Hancock, who hit a wide open three to begin the second half. Neal ran the fast break and led Hancock ahead moments later for a transition layup as the Tigers started the second half on a 13-3 scoring run to stretch the lead to double-digits. The momentum was capped by Flowers, who used a screen to drill a three from the right wing. Flowers finished with 11 points on a trio of threes.
Conley cleaned the glass and scored on three consecutive second chance opportunities to give the Tigers their biggest lead, 57-41, after junior Gavin Snyder snagged an offensive board and fired a pass from beneath the basket to Conley at the top of the key. Parks swatted away four Harding shot attempts, denying the Bisons at the rim. Parks added 11 points and matched his season-high with four blocks to anchor the paint on both ends.
Harding made one last push during a five-minute Ouachita scoring drought as the Bisons capitalized on turnovers to go on an 11-0 scoring run and cut the margin to 57-52. McBride scored or assisted on half of Harding's made shots and led the Bisons with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor.
The Tigers answered with the dagger as Neal tossed an alley-oop that Parks tipped in the net to restore control in the final minutes. Ouachita held Harding to a season-low 55 points, showcasing a defensive unit that allows the sixth-fewest points per game in Division II. The Bisons made just 18 total shots on 37% shooting from the floor and 29% from deep. The Tigers improved to 8-2 overall and 4-0 in the GAC, while the Bisons fell to 8-3.
Ouachita visits Southern Arkansas for a men's and women's basketball double-header on Saturday. The men's game is scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m.
