MEMPHIS-The Christian Brothers University Bucs dug their way out of a 13-point deficit with 15 minutes remaining, but visiting Harding scored the final six points of the game to claim a 73-67 win Tuesday night at Canale Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Bisons (2-3) used an early 13-2 run to take a 15-6 lead on a Blake McNair three-pointer with 14:46 remaining in the first half.
• Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) helped the Bucs (1-4) fight their way back into the game, scoring eight points in a 14-5 run that left the game knotted at 29 on an Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) layup with 4:54 remaining in the half.
• Harding used a 14-2 run bridging the halftime break to open a 52-39 lead, their largest of the night, on a Kavas layup with 15:11 remaining in the game.
• CBU answered with 11 straight, beginning with a Cody Garbuzinski (Memphis, Tenn./Christian Brothers HS) three and capped by a Dieball layup that brought them within a 52-50 margin with 8:59 remaining. From there, the game stayed within four points until the final seconds.
• The game saw five ties and four lead changes over the final seven minutes, the last lead change coming when a Jacob Gibson triple, Harding's only three of the second half, gave the Bisons a 67-65 edge with 1:53 remaining. Garbuzinski sank a pair of free throws with 1:34 to play to tie the game at 67, but the Bisons scored the final six points. Kavas scored a layup with 1:13 remaining, and after a timeout, McNair scored off an inbounds play after a CBU turnover wth 50 seconds remaining. Kavas sank two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to set the final margin.

KEY STATS:
• Larkin scored 26 points, making 10-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-8 from three-point range as he played all 40 minutes.
• Dieball scored 12 points with six rebounds, six assists and two turnovers in 24 minutes.
• Miller scored 11 points with three assists.
• Garbuzinski scored 10 points with three rebounds and two assists.
• Drew Hildreth (Memphis, Tenn./Bolton HS) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and two steals.
• The Bucs shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) for the game, but they were just 17.4 percent (4-of-23) from threepoint range and 26.5 percent (9-of-34) overall in the second half. 
• Harding shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) for the game, including 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from three-point range.
• The Bucs out-rebounded Harding 34-33, including a 12-8 edge in offensive rebounds. CBU also forced 11 Harding turnovers while committing just seven.

HEAD COACH MIKE NIENABER'S THOUGHTS:
"I thought the first half tonight was as good as our offense has played. We were getting inside shots, we were hitting cutters.  I always say when you work hard and you don't get a paycheck, it's hard to come back to work the next week, but we have to."

"Overall, we've lost two heartbreaking games at home where a basket at the right time or a free throw at the right time maybe turns it. It would have been nice to at least get one, but these first five games are like spring training. Now we're starting Gulf South Conference play next week I think we're going to match up well with most of our conference games."

"We've got a lot of guys that are struggling, and we've got two guys at the 5 that are both playing really well. When you look at Jordan and Adam and you put their numbers together at the 5, we got 23 points. We're going to have to find a way to get them playing together."

WHAT'S NEXT:
The Bucs open GSC play Thursday night, Dec. 3, as they host Lee at 7 p.m.