BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Southern Arkansas scored 49 second half points, but was unable to overcome a hot start from Harding as the Bisons shot just over 50% from the floor and 82% from the free throw line, topping the Muleriders 97-83 in the second semifinal affair of the 2016 Great American Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon inside Bruin Fieldhouse.
 
The Muleriders (17-13) struggled from beyond the arc in the first half connecting on just one three-point attempt in ten tries. Nine first half turnovers by SAU resulted in 11 Bisons points as Harding (20-9), the top seed and regular season co-champions, shot 50% (15-of-30) from the floor that included 6-of-15 (40%) from three-point range as they took a 16-point lead into the intermission.
 
After Jacob Gibson, the GAC Player of the Year, entered the break with 27 points, it was Harding's Reggie Anthony that reaped the benefits of the added attention to Gibson as he scored 17 second half points, while Gibson added 13 to finish with a league record 40 points.
 
Harding led the entire contest and made just seven trifectas in 22 attempts, but it was 32 makes from the free throw line (18 in second half) that aided the Bisons in suppressing the beginning of several late second half runs by the Muleriders.
 
Down 17 with four and a half minutes removed from the second half, the Muleriders used a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 10, 65-55 with 13:10 to play, as six of the those points came inside while the other bucket came courtesy of a three-pointer from Deon Andrews.
 
The next four minutes of action saw the Bisons build their lead to 16, 77-61, but Southern Arkansas used a Jaron Davis three-pointer, a CJ Elkins free throw, and a layup from Andrews brought SAU to within 10 at the 6:22 mark of the second half. An inside bucket by Andrews again brought SAU to within 10 points at 83-73, with 4:52 remaining. At the 3:32 spot of the second half, SAU would get as close as nine as Daterrius Hubbard scored on a fast break drive for the Muleriders final points of the evening as Harding used a trio of layups and seven free throws to advance to Sunday's title game.
 
The Muleriders turned the ball over just three times in the second half, while outscoring Harding 14-4 n second chance points. SAU outrebounded the Bisons 42-33 and outscored them inside 44-36.
 
Southern Arkansas saw five players score in double figures led by Andrews' 17 points, while classmate Jaron Davis added 16 points. Junior guard De'Sean Dockery and GAC Freshman of the Year CJ Elkins produced a dozen points apiece and senior big man Kevin Jordan followed with 10 points to round out double-figure scoring in the season finale.