Box Score

HONOLULU, HI – JEFF CAMPBELL's second half play leads the Hilltoppers to a 69-66 victory over Harding on Monday afternoon in Honolulu. Campbell hit the game winning shot with six seconds remaining in the contest.
 
“Jeff hit a terrific shot. One that he will remember for a long time.” Head Coach Andre Cook said.
 
St. Edward's (8-6) fell behind quickly 6-0, at the 17:20 mark of the first half. JAMES STUKES stopped the scoring with a two-point basket, but the Hilltopper couldn't stop the early attack by Harding falling behind 10-4 with 14:39 remaining.
 
Johnson and Stukes quickly scored five points for St. Edward's to cut the lead to 12-9. Both teams went cold from the field over the next three minutes until the Bison extended their lead to five points. ZILIJAN JONES responded with a trey of his own to get the Hilltoppers within two points, 14-12 at the halfway point of the half.
 
St. Edward's tied the game at 14 with a lay-up by QUINTON LILLEY. The Hilltoppers wouldn't get any closer during the first half. St. Edward's fell behind by as many as seven points in the first half and went into the break trailing by five, 30-25.
 
The Bison came out strong connecting on a quick lay-up, but again the resilient Hilltoppers cut the lead back down to three points. Harding went on a 8-0 run over two minutes of play extending their lead 40-29 at the 16:37 mark.
 
JOHN RUTHERFORD drained back-to-back shots from behind the arc to spark a small run for St. Edward's and cut the lead to five points. The Bison responded with a run of their own extending its lead to the largest of the game, 48-35.
 
Lay-ups by HARLEY NUSSMAN and CHRIS WACKER gave the Hilltoppers some life and they began to cut into the lead. Wacker assisted on a JEFF CAMPBELL dunk to continue the St. Edward's run. Campbell then knocked in a three-point shot to cut the Bison lead to two points with 9:53 remaining.
 
Johnson swished a trey to give St. Edward's its first lead of the game with 4:42 remaining. The Bison quickly regained their lead. Johnson would make two free-throws to tie the game at 65 at the 1:24 mark.
 
Spender Bradley of Harding made 1-of-2 foul shots to give the Bison a one-point lead. Stukes would mimic Bradley and make just one foul shot as well, to give the game its fourth tie at 66, with 0:41 remaining.
 
St. Edward's grabbed the offensive board off the Stukes miss and that's when JEFF CAMPBELL hit the game winning three-point shot with just six seconds remaining. Jacob Gibson of Harding missed a buzzer beater shot that would've tied the game. 
 
Cook continued to add, “The guys really got tough today. We were down 13 to a very good Harding team that is well coached. They are continuing to get better and a win like this validates that."
 
The Hilltoppers rebound from their loss to Harding that was suffered at the beginning of the season. This is the third time this year that St. Edward's has defeated a team that has beaten them in a previous match-up.
 
“That says something about our guys.” Cook said, “They don't want to lose to a team twice. It also shows that our guys are paying attention to scouts and edits and making the proper adjustments.”
 
The Hilltoppers will be back in action tomorrow as they take on Oneonta State in Honolulu. Tip-off is set for 5:00 P.M. Live stats will be available through the Hilltopper website.