BOX SCORE || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – East Central put all five of its starters into double figures as the Tigers defeated Harding, the defending Great American Conference Men’s Basketball Champions, 77-68, in Saturday’s opening men’s semifinal from Bruin Fieldhouse.
The Tigers’ starting five of Braxton Reeves, Henry Pwono, Brandon Lucas, Donovan Halsel and Stirling Thomas accounted for all but four of their points. Reeves and Pwono tied for team-high honors with 17 points. Halsel continued his red-hot shooting at the GAC Championships as his 13 points came of 5-of-6 shooting. In the two wins for the Tigers (21-9), Halsel has made an incredible 12-of-13 shots, including 8-of-9 from the 3-point arc.
Harding (14-14) had turned around an early 14-4 deficit into a 35-27 advantage late in the first half until Thomas and Reeves went on a personal 9-0 run to close out the half. Reeves buried a 3-pointer at the horn to give ECU at 36-35 lead.
The first 16 minutes of the second half saw eight lead changes and four ties as neither team established a lead larger than four points until the Tigers iced the game with a 13-2 run the spanned more than four minutes. Harding missed seven of eight shots during that critical stretch.
First-Team All-GAC selection Andraz Kavas registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Blake McNair, off of a 24-point effort against Southern Arkansas in the quarterfinal, led the team with 17 points and four 3-point field goals. Will Francis added 16.
The Tigers, who had not won a postseason game prior to this run since the 1997-98 season, will play for the GAC title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament at 3:30 PM on Sunday. They will face the winner of Southwestern Oklahoma State and Arkansas Tech. East Central swept the Wonder Boys but dropped both contests to the Bulldogs.