Harding (4-1) led early but fell behind by as many as 11 points in the first half. West Georgia’s John Barnes completed a three-point play with 6:07 left in the half to lead 33-22. The Bisons then went on a 15-4 run over the rest of the half and went to the break tied at 37-all.
The Wolves pulled away again to open the second half and led 44-39 with 17:48 left. With West Georgia ahead 45-41, Blake nailed a three-pointer, and Hayden Johnson made a layup to start a 10-0 run that put Harding ahead to stay.
West Georgia (2-2) pulled to within four points at 68-64 on a Barnes layup with 3:31 left, but Harding closed out the game with an 11-1 run.
Free throw shooting was a key to Harding’s second half rally. The Bisons entered the game averaging 36 free throw attempts per game, but shot only 5-of-7 in the first half. In the second half, Harding made 14-of-17. Blake was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.
Harding shot 50 percent from the field and limited West Georgia to only 36 percent.
Senior Kevin Brown added 10 points for Harding, and sophomore Bradley Spencer had eight points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Da’Ron Sims led West Georgia with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Harding and West Georgia were meeting for only the third time. West Georgia defeated Harding 78-77 at the Gulf South Conference Tournament in 2004, and Harding won last season’s meeting 83-54 in Searcy.
Harding will play its second straight GSC East Division foe Monday at 7 p.m., when it travels to Livingston, Ala., to meet West Alabama. The Tigers lost 61-58 to Arkansas Tech on Saturday.
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