Men's Basketball: Harding 86, LeMoyne-Owen 81 (OT)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Harding junior forward Kirk Porter hit a layup at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, and the Bisons defeated LeMoyne-Owen 86-81 in overtime Friday in their season-opener. The game was the first of two games on the night at the Christian Brothers Conference Challenge, held at Canale Arena.

Harding (1-0) will play again Saturday in the Challenge, when it takes on Lane College, a Division II school located in Jackson, Tenn.

The Bisons held a 12-point lead in the first half. Redshirt freshman Weston Jameson hit a free throw with 2:12 left in the first half to give Harding a 39-27 advantage. LeMoyne-Owen (0-1) then outscored Harding 26-3 over the next 10 minutes.

The Magicians led by as many as 13 points when A.J. Nance hit a layup to put LeMoyne-Owen ahead 56-43 with 10:41 left. Harding trailed for the rest of the second half, but did cut the lead to 73-72 on a Kirk Porter dunk with 14 seconds remaining.

Harding fouled LeMoyne-Owen’s Brandon Hopson on the in-bounds pass. Hopson made the first free throw and missed the second. The Bisons pushed the ball up quickly, but Jameson’s layup attempt was blocked. Porter grabbed the loose ball and hit a layup just as time expired.

Bison senior Sam Brown connected on a three-pointer four seconds into overtime, and Harding hit 7-of-9 free throws in the extra period to pull away. LeMoyne-Owen did not make a shot in the game’s final 2:33.

Four of Harding’s five starters scored in double figures, led by Kevin Brown, who had 19 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Stephen Blake made three three-pointers and had 17 points. Porter made 6-of-8 shots and had 16 points, and Sam Brown had 14.

Senior Kenyale Evans led LeMoyne-Owen with 15 points.

Harding made 7-of-12 three-pointers in the first half, but only 1-of-10 in the second half. The Bisons connected on 25-of-38 free throws, while LeMoyne-Owen was just 13-of-21.