12th-ranked Bucs lose home thriller to Bisons

This would be a great time for Trent Morgan to start heating up again.  The Bisons are in the middle of a very tough stretch of games against ranked GSC opponents, one that could define the early part of the season.  They certainly were going to need at least one road win to stay competitive in the division, and they got a big one last night against #12 Christian Brothers, 75-74 in overtime.

Trent Morgan went back to carrying the scoring load in this game with 21 points, including five threes, but he also carried the emotional load by making at least three key plays to put the Bisons on top.  Trent ended an HU shooting drought with a buzzer-beating three to send the game into overtime, made a key deflection to change possession in the final minute of overtime, and then made the game-winning three with under eight seconds to play.  Morgan played 41 of the game’s 45 minutes and also added four rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

Kevin Brown was relatively efficient in scoring 18 points, and Stephen Blake had 10 points in 34 minutes playing off the bench.  Starting guard Sam Brown played just 10 minutes and didn’t foul out, so I’m not sure if Coach Morgan benched him for some reason, just wanted to play the hot hand with Blake, or if Brown got hurt.

The Bisons really struggled on the boards and nearly lost the game as a result.  GSC West POY candidate Nick Kohs and starting Bucs’ guard Scott Dennis had five offensive rebounds each, leading the Bucs to a 17-13 rebounding edge on the Bisons’ end of the floor.  Second chance points are always going to be a threat when the Bisons play a dominant big man like Kohs.

Harding will attempt to extend its home win streak to 14 games against 19th-ranked Arkansas-Monticello tomorrow night.

As a final note, I want to point out the good job that the HU athletic department has been doing with game recaps this season on the official website.  The recap for this game, credited to SID Scott Goode, reads like something you might find from the AP on any number of major websites.  He’s been reliably getting quotes from Coach Morgan and focusing on turning points in the game action, which has really helped me get a feel for each game that I can’t get when I’m not watching the games myself.  So, keep up the good work.