TUPELO, Miss. — It didn’t matter that three Harding players got in foul trouble early. The Bisons first half shooting and their defense in the second half proved enough for the Bisons to pull away from Valdosta State for a 86-66 victory.

When Matt Hall, Ceso Sprewell and Edward White all drew two fouls in the first half, things looked bad for Harding. But the Bisons shot 50 percent in the first half with three of their starts on the bench and were able to pull away to a 38-28 lead at the half.

Five Harding players were able to crack double digits. Emmanuel White finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds, Rafeal Franco had 20 points and 8 boards, Lonnie Smith finished with 14 points, Sprewell had 10 points and 10 boards and Hall finished with 12.

In the second half Valdosta could never quite chip away at the lead before Harding eventually blew the game wide open with its offense. On the other end Harding did just enough to cause Valdosta to lose any sort of momentum they had.

The loss, VSU’s third straight, probably ends all hope for the Blazers chance of NCAA tournament play.

Valdosta’s leading scorer was Jon Rogers, who finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds. He was the only Blazer in double figures.

Harding will now face the No. 1 seed from the West, Delta State at 12:30 p.m. Friday.





Bisons shoot lights out, run away from VSU

	TUPELO, Miss. — It didn’t matter that three Harding players got in foul trouble early. The Bisons first half shooting and their defense in the second half proved enough for the Bisons to pull away from Valdosta State for a 86-66 victory. When Matt Hall, Ceso Sprewell and Edward White all drew two fouls in the first half, things looked bad for Harding. But the Bisons shot 50 percent in the first half with three of their starts on the bench and were able to pull away to a 38-28 lead at the half. Five Harding players were able to crack double digits. Emmanuel White finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds, Rafeal Franco had 20 points and 8 boards, Lonnie Smith finished with 14 points, Sprewell had 10 points and 10 boards and Hall finished with 12. In the second half Valdosta could never quite chip away at the lead before Harding eventually blew the game wide open with its offense. On the other end Harding did just enough to cause Valdosta to lose any sort of momentum they had. The loss, VSU’s third straight, probably ends all hope for the Blazers chance of NCAA tournament play. Valdosta’s leading scorer was Jon Rogers, who finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds. He was the only Blazer in double figures. Harding will now face the No. 1 seed from the West, Delta State at 12:30 p.m. Friday.

			Harding’s Ceso Sprewell puts in two of his 10 points in a big 86-66 win over VSU Wednesday.




		Harding’s Ceso Sprewell steals the ball from Valdosta en route to an 86-66 win.