OUACHITA DEFEATS HARDING TO WIN SECOND GAC TITLE - Mar 7, 2016
Tournament MVP Tirrell Brown (6'6''-F) scored the first seven points of Sunday's Great American Conference Men's Basketball Championship final to jumpstart Ouachita who defeated Harding, 72-56, to win its second GAC Tournament title and claim its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. Brown finished with a game-high 24 points and added eight rebounds for the Tigers (19-12). For the GAC Championships, he averaged 21.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and made 24-of-37 from the floor, good for a 64.9 percent clip. Ouachita led for most of the first half as Harding (20-10) only led twice, each time by a single point. The Tigers finished with a flourish as they closed the half on a 27-5 run to lead 48-25. The Tigers shot 56.3 percent as compared to the Bisons' 26.5 percent. Following her record-setting 40-point performance in semifinals, Harding's Jacob Gibson connected on just 2-for-8 attempts and he missed all five of his 3-point tries. The Bisons tried to pull off the improbable comeback by scoring 20 of the first 24 points of the second half to cut the deficit to 52-45, however they drew no closer the remainder of the contest. Despite making only 5-of-27 shots in the second half, the Tigers converted 14-of-17 from the free-throw line and continued to stymie Harding's offense. The Bisons went 10-for-30 in the second half and finished the game shooting 29.7 percent from the floor and 24.2 percent from the 3-point arc. David Berete (6'3''-G) and Lakee Westbrook (6'0''-PG) joined Brown on the All-Tournament Team. Westbrook averaged 11.0 points per game while Berete averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three wins. Gibson, Will Francis (6'5''-G-95) and Reggie Anthony (6'1''-PG-95) represented Harding on the All-Tournament team. East Central's Stirling Thomas (6'0''-PG-93) and Southern Arkansas' Deon Andrews (6'2''-G) rounded out the eight-man All-Tournament Team.
Courtesy of GreatAmericanConference
GAC Tournament Final: Ouachita - Harding 72-56 GAC Tournament Semifinals: Ouachita - East Central 83-80 Harding - Southern Arkansas 97-83
All-GAC Awards 2016 - Mar 7, 2016
All-GAC 1st Team 2016
Gibson
Thomas
Brown
Collins
Reeves
All-Tournament MVP: Tirrell Brown (6'6''-F) of Ouachita Baptist Player of the Year: Jacob Gibson (6'6''-G-93) of Harding Defensive Player of the Year: David Berete (6'3''-G) of Ouachita Baptist Freshman of the Year: CJ Elkins (6'3''-G) of S.Arkansas Newcomer of the Year: Lakee Westbrook (6'0''-PG) of Ouachita Baptist Coach of the Year: Jeff Morgan of Harding
Nutt
