BARTLESVILLE, Okla. ­– Southern Arkansas junior big man Kevin Jordan scored a career-high 26 points on an efficient 11-of-15 (73%) shooting from the field, but No. 3-seed SAU would ultimately fall to No. 6-seed Harding University in the opening round of the 2015 Great American Conference Tournament by a score of 89-77.
 
Jordan's career day started early as the 6-10 junior forward from Peoria, Ill. scored 16 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting. Jordan would also pull down five rebounds in the opening half to put him well on his way to his sixth double-double of the season as he eventually collected 12 total rebounds for the game.
 
In the opening half, play was back-and-forth as there were five tie scores and four lead changes. Harding would grab the largest lead through the first 20 minutes as they led by 10 points, 24-14, at the 11:29 mark, but the Muleriders (15-12) would battle back and went into the break trailing by four points, 44-40.
 
Immediately coming out of the break, the Muleriders pulled to within a point, 44-43, as senior guard Chauncy Williams buried a straight-away three-pointer at the 19:46 mark. That would be as close as the Muleriders would get in the second half, however, as the Bisons (14-13) soon stretched their lead out double-digits.
 
With 4:12 left in the game, Harding took their largest lead of 17 points, 77-60, on an Andraz Kavas layup. While it seemed as though Harding may cruise from there, the Muleriders would rip off an 11-0 run over the next 3:31 of the game to pull to within six points, 77-71, with 1:16 to go. Sparking that run was Jaron Davis as he came away with a steal and fast-break layup on consecutive possessions following Williams' three-pointer to start the run.  
 
From there, however, the Muleriders would be forced to foul and Harding made the most of all their trips to the charity stripe as they went 12-for-12 over the final 1:16 of the game, securing the win for the Bisons.   
 
Despite the loss, the Muleriders capped a breakout season with the program's first winning campaign since the 2001-02 season. Additionally, the 15 wins overall this year is tied for the second-most wins in a season since SAU joined NCAA Division II prior to the 1995-96 season; while their 11 conference wins were the most in the DII era.