ADA – With a 93-72 victory over Harding and a loss by Arkansas-Monticello, the East Central University men's basketball team claimed its second-straight Great American Conference Regular-Season title and claimed the No. 1 seed at the GAC Championship Tournament.

Game Photo Gallery
Net Cutting Photo Gallery

The Tigers will face No. 8 Henderson State, Thursday, March 3 at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the tournament.

ECU was led by senior Braxton Reeves, who tallied 32 points and added six steals.  Senior Donovan Halsel added 12 points and senior KD Moore 11.  Junior Brett Cannon earned his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.

The Tigers came out ready to fight and went up 5-0 in the first two minutes of the game.  ECU increased the lead to 10 (12-2) in the first 3:30.  The Bisons (14-12, 11-11 GAC) fought back to cut the deficit to six (17-11), over the next two minutes. 

Harding kept fighting and were able to cut the disadvantage to two (31-29), with just under six minutes to play.  However, the Tigers countered with a 13-0 run over the next three minutes and ended up going into the break with a 49-37 lead.

ECU never let up in the second half, building the lead out to 19 in the first six minutes.  The Bisons were never able to get closer than 10 points the rest of the half and increased it to a final score of 93-72.

The Tigers had strong day shooting, hitting 59.7 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from beyond the arc.  Harding was held to 41.8 percent from the floor and 34.3 percent from three-point range.

The day was filled with entertainment, as the teams honored their seniors (KD Moore, Ben Brown-White, Ishmael Donzo, Donovan Halsel, Aly Hudgins and Braxton Reeves) before the game and then cut down the nets after the win.