- -- Basketball Season of Suspense S ince the Bisons began the basketball season with only one senior on the team, they knew they had to pull together ~~)and work hard to overcome the problem ~of inexperience to do well in the AIC race. This lack of experience was evident in the first six games as the Bisons dropped five of them, beating only Christian Brothers . However, as the season progressed, their one senior, Kenny Collins, led the Bisons to three straight wins over School of the Ozarks, 76-69; Arkansas College, 68-63; and Ouachita Baptist University, 66-62. The first time the Bisons met the league-leading Central Arkansas Bears, Collins scored 28 points but the Bisons fell 75-72. Harding turned several heads by winning five of the next six games beating Arkansas Tech, UAPB, Southern Arkansas, Hendrix College and U of A Monticello. The only game they lost during that stretch was at Henderson State as the Reddies slipped by the Bisons, 67-65 in overtime. Free throws proved to be the deciding factor as the Bisons beat a much bigger UAM team, 72-71. Harding met league-leading Central Arkansas the second time at Conway and handed them only their second conference loss. Tim Smallwood scored 19 points and Marvin Mathis had 11 rebounds en route to the victory . Harding finished the season by beating UAPB, Henderson State, and Hendrix, losing to Southern Arkansas and U of A Monticello. Several Bisons were among the top players in the AIC in various categories. Kenny Collins was among the leading scorers in the conference as he averaged 19.3 points during the regular season. Shannon Hughes averaged 13.7 during the regular season. Hughes finished the season with an excellent free throw shooting percentage, shooting 89.1 percent from the line . Tim Smallwood and Mike Hall also shot above 70 percent from the free throw line. Keith Richardson led the team with 140 assists and 51 steals.11Jt Basketball team. Front row: Smallwood , Thames, Parker, Hall , Richardson , Foster ; back row : Johnson , Boyd, Stevenson , Hughes , Collins , Fowler, Collins , Mathis, Womack , Bucy, Hawley. - photo by P.R. Office. Basketball 1985 AIC Standings Final Conference Central Arkansas* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-3 Ozarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5 UA-Monticello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-5 Ouachita Baptist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8 Harding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-8 Hendrix.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9 Henderson State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 Southern Arkansas ...... . ....... 7-13 Arkansas Tech ............... . .. 8-14 Arkansas College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16 UA-Pine Bluff ................... 3-17 *Clinched AIC championship Basketball 107
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