Bisons Look to Continue Home Streak; Hosts Henderson State on Thursday

Courtesy Harding University Athletics Department

SEARCY – The Harding men’s basketball team will go in search of its 13th straight home victory and look to maintain its lead in the Great American Conference on Thursday when it hosts Henderson State at the Rhodes Field House. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. and the game will air live in Searcy on KVHU-95.3 FM and on TV16.

Harding (17-5, 10-4) is coming off consecutive losses, both on the road in Oklahoma, for only the second time this season and has seen its lead in the GAC standings fall to only ½-game over Arkansas Tech.

Returning to the Rhodes Field House should give Harding the boost it needs to get back in the win column. The Bisons have won all 12 of their home games this season and would tie the school record for consecutive home wins with a victory over the Reddies, a team Harding has defeated in seven of the last eight meetings overall and five straight at Rhodes Field House.

Harding won the first meeting of the season between the teams, 66-61, in Arkadelphia, Ark., on Jan. 10. Senior guard Adam Sterrenberg scored a career-high 23 points in the contest, hitting all 10 of his free throw attempts. Henderson State made seven more field goals in the game but missed 21 of its 24 3-point attempts as Harding connected on 7-of-22. The Bisons outscored the Reddies 25-10 at the free throw line.

Henderson State (10-10, 5-9) has also struggled of late. The Reddies have lost their last two and four of their last five since starting point guard Jonathan Fitzgerald, the team’s assist leader and conference’s steals leader, left the team.

Henderson State posted a season-low point total Saturday in a 65-49 home loss to Southern Nazarene.

The Reddies are in seventh place among the nine GAC teams eligible for the conference tournament, but hold only a ½-game lead over eighth-place Southern Arkansas and a 1½-game lead over ninth-place East Central. Only the top eight teams advance to the GAC Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., in March.

Harding continues to prove itself as one of the top shooting teams in the conference. The Bisons enter the game as the GAC’s leader in both 3-pointers per game (8.1) and 3-point field goal percentage (38.2 percent). Harding also leads the conference in free throw percentage (74.4 percent) and has made 71 more free throws than its opponent this season.

Henderson State leads the conference in turnover margin (+3.4) but has committed 41 turnovers in its last two games, both losses.