WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Men's Basketball secured an 80-77 overtime victory at home on Senior Day over Harding.
With the regular season dwindling down, the win proves to be crucial to push SWOSU to the nine-win mark in GAC play and keep them firmly in the top-8 of the league with two games left to play next week.
The Bulldogs began Saturday's game strong and led by 12 points past the halfway mark of the first half before Harding shrunk that margin to 35-32 by halftime.
An 8-0 second half run by the Bisons had them up 63-55 with 6:53 left to play before SWOSU dug in and completed the comeback. Right after the Harding run, the Dawgs answered with stops on defense and a 9-1 scoring spurt of their own capped off by a Ben Smith three ball to give them the lead at 65-64 with 3:50 to play.
Down the stretch, the Bisons played from in front by a possession but SWOSU continually tied things up until a pair of foul shots by Jalen Johnson concluded scoring in regular with just under two minutes to play. Tied 69-69 after he knocked down both with 1:47 left to play, neither team scored the remainder of regulation, and the game went to overtime.
In the extra session, the Bulldogs scored the first five points to create breathing room including a three pointer from Eli Al-Debaran on the opening possession. SWOSU went on to lead the entire way through and got one final stop as time expired to earn the win, making the Dawgs 2-0 in overtime games this season. They shot just three field goals in overtime but knocked down 8-of-12 at the foul line to account for the 11 points scored.
Senior Mark Berry finished the game with a career high 22 points (8-of-11 shooting) and an eighth double-double on the season by leading the team with 10 rebounds. Fellow seniors Ben Smith, Jalen Johnson and Mason Hart combined for another 32 points.
Al-Debaran notched double figures for the third time this season with 11 points including a perfect 4-4 mark at the foul line.
SWOSU shot 44% in the game, with nearly identical percentages in both the first and second half. They knocked down four three balls in each half, nine total in the game on 21 attempts, representing the second most three-point makes this season.
The 38 free throw attempts falls one shy of the team's season high, but SWOSU's 25 makes on the afternoon does tie for the most this season. The Dawgs missed 13 foul shots in the contest but knocked down 8-8 in the second half to keep pace with the Bisons on the scoreboard.
Harding was limited to 36% shooting the first half which included a 2-of-15 (13%) stat from beyond the arc. They improved that mark drastically in the second half to shoot 52% as a team and 5-of-8 from deep before SWOSU clamped defensively down in overtime.
With just two games left on the schedule, SWOSU closes the home portion next Thursday against East Central before playing the regular season finale at Southern Nazarene on Saturday. Two teams sit tied with the Dawgs for fifth at 9-11 after Saturday's results. Another three teams hold 8-12 league records a game behind.
