The Men’s basketball team suffered another tough loss, 76-78, at East Central University Feb. 21 in Ada, Okla., with a three-pointer at the buzzer. This defeat gives the team its third straight loss and its fifth loss at the buzzer this year.
“Obviously they’re hurting,” head coach Jeff Morgan said. “You put so much into it and it comes down to a last shot or a ball going out of bounds. It just comes down to stuff like that, but I think they’ve handled it well and responded in a really good way.”
Following the tough, three-game stretch, Morgan said nothing is as bad or good as it seems and somewhere in the middle is reality. He said they want to stay in the now and focus on staying positive and continue the process of moving past these games.
Even with the recent struggle, Harding is still in good shape at No. 4 in the Great American Conference (GAC). With just two games remaining, the Bisons look to find a rhythm.
“Last year we lost our last five games going into the tournament but it wasn’t because of bad basketball,” Morgan said. “With the (Arkansas) Tech game on the road, obviously that can be a big game for seeding, and coming home to play No. 1 Ouachita, we have a chance to come away with some positives and go into the tournament with a great mindset.”
Last season the team was led by two seniors, point guard Weston Jameson and forward Hayden Johnson, but this season takes on a different look as it is primarily a young team with only one senior, Mak Boskalio. This brings new elements to the way Morgan approaches this year’s tournament.
“It’s different,” Morgan said. “We’re playing more younger guys than we’ve had to, but they have gotten some great experience throughout the year and continue to grow in confidence and take some positives into the GAC tournament.”
Morgan said the team still has great leaders, but just younger players. He said he is hoping for some “youthful innocence” that can take them far. Morgan said he believes the conference tournament is wide open.
One of the stat leaders for the Bisons is junior center Andraz Kavas, known as “AK.” Kavas is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 20 points a game for the Bisons, and has led Harding in scoring 13 of the team’s 24 games thus far.
“I worked really hard in the summer and in preseason,” Kavas said. “I am one of the older guys on the team and knew I would have more responsibilities, but most of the credit goes to my coaches and teammates. They trust me and have confidence in me which makes it that much easier.”
Kavas said in the recent losses they started out poorly, but finished strong in the second half to make the games close. He said unfortunately sometimes you can not help it when a last-second shot from the opposing team goes in, and a last second shot for the Bisons does not.
Second-leading scorer, junior guard Blake McNair, is one of the leaders on the team’s roster who has taken it upon himself to lead in different ways.
“To be honest with you, I would say we have multiple leaders on this team,” McNair said. “We all have our own personalities that allow us to lead in different ways. We all respect and care about each other which I don’t think can be said about a lot of college basketball teams.”
Teams generally always look to improve and get better. McNair said their improvements are focused on the defensive side. He said outside the buzzer-beater three against East Central, they stayed relevant in that game due to their effort on defense. McNair said the team looks to keep improving at the end of the season going into the tournament.
The Bisons play No. 1 seed Ouachita Baptist University Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Rhodes Field House at 7:30 p.m. to finish out the regular season. Harding will make the trip to Bartlesville, Okla. on Wednesday for the GAC tournament starting March 5.
