Basketball Men Drop 2 at Harding Tourney

SEARCY, Ark. – Hampered by poor outside shooting, the USAO men’s basketball team lost both games last weekend in the Harding Classic. On Friday, the Drovers fell 78-72 to Lyon, Ark., and followed with a 95-88 setback Saturday against host-team, Harding.

With the two losses, USAO falls to 1-5 overall with three non-conference games left before Christmas. On Wednesday, the Drovers travel to Langston for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against the Lions. USAO also is scheduled to compete Dec. 11-12 in the Pepsi/The Morning Sun Classic in Pittsburg, Kan.

On Saturday, USAO didn’t have an answer for Harding’s post play, as the Bison scored 56 points in the paint, and had six players in double figures. The Drovers managed three players in double figures, but was hampered by just 10-of-35 from 3-point range.

After a seesaw start, Harding took the lead for good on a layup at 8:49 that gave the Bison a 22-20 lead.  The Bison extended the advantage to 14 points and took a 47-35 lead into the break. Harding (2-1) led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but the
Drovers cut the lead to 80-76 with a 20-7 run over a three-minute stretch.

Harding built their cushion back up to 11 on a Ceso Sprewell layup with 3:08 left. Again, the Drovers came back and a Wayne Gibson 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining sliced the Bison lead to 91-88. Harding’s Edward White hit a layup with 0:32 left and Lonnie Smith added two late free throws to seal the win.

Gibson led USAO with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Avery Stevenson added 22 points and three rebounds. Junior Romeil Perkins had probably his best game of the season with 13 points, a team-high 11 rebounds, a game-high four steals and three assists.

On Friday, USAO battled Lyon through 13 lead changes and four ties before losing 78-72 in the first game of the Harding Classic. Lyon’s last field goal came with 1:27 left but the Drovers couldn’t answer in the loss.

Three Drovers scored in double figures, led by Gibson with 21 points, five rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Stevenson finished with 17 points on 4-of-10 from 3-point range and added two rebounds. Junior Wayne Walls scored 12 points and grabbed a season-high six rebounds for USAO.