By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
SEARCY, Ark. -- Missouri S&T had a tough night away from home Tuesday evening, as Harding ran away from the Miners in the second half to come away with an
84-62 win.
S&T could not slow down the Bisons after closing to within one in the first half and saw Harding rattle off two runs after the intermission, one after the Miners got to within nine in the early stages in the second half and the other after S&T cut a 20-point lead down to 11 at the midway point.
The Miners trailed 14-13 after
Curtis Mosley (Chicago, Ill./) knocked down a three-pointer at the 14:09 mark, but the Bisons ran off 10 of the next 13 points to build their biggest lead of the half.
S&T was able to cut into the margin over the next few minutes, but back-to-back fast break layups by Trent Morgan and Sam Brown, followed by a three-pointer by Brown allowed Harding to get an 11-point lead just under two minutes to go before halftime.
The Bisons took a 38-27 lead to the locker room as the Miners committed 13 turnovers and were outrebounded by 11 in the first 20 minutes.
Justin Taylor's three-point play at the 16:26 mark drew the Miners back to within nine at 47-38, but the Bisons turned up the pace of the game and put together another run -- this one a 13-2 spurt -- to increase their lead to 20 points over the next four minutes.
S&T cut that margin down to 11 after Taylor scored eight straight points over a stretch of minute, then Mosley hit two free throws just inside the 10-minute mark and
Taurance Townsel (Houston, Texas/) added one moments later. However, the Bisons outscored S&T 20-9 down the stretch to extend their winning streak to six games.
The Miners (3-4), who beat the Bisons in double overtime in Rolla on Nov. 15, got 18 points from Taylor and 15 from
Adam Knollmeyer (Linn, Mo./Linn) as the pair combined to go 14-of-25 from the floor. S&T shot only 42.1 percent from the floor in the contest and made just four of its 16 three-point tries.
Harding (6-1), who has not lost since that season opening defeat to S&T, had five players in double figures Tuesday. The Bisons were led by Morgan with 22 points while Kevin Brown added 16; as a team, Harding also outrebounded the Miners by a 44-28 margin.