HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Stillman forward Ladarius Rhone recovered a loose ball in the paint and laid it in with 3.8 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Tigers an 87-86 victory over Harding in the quarterfinals of the NCAA II South Region Tournament on Saturday at Spragins Hall.

Harding (25-5) had taken the lead with 14 seconds left when senior forward Kevin Brown converted a 3-point play to give Harding an 86-85 lead. It was the 18th lead change in the game.

Stillman guard Rakee Anderson took the ball to the basket on the last possession but had his shot blocked by Stephen Blake. Rhone grabbed the rebound and scored only his third shot in seven attempts to win it.

“We made them take an incredibly tough shot,” said Harding head coach Jeff Morgan. “We just did not do a good job of grabbing the backside rebound. That hurt us a couple of times in the game.”

“I got a piece of [the shot] going up,” Blake said.

Harding was unable to get a shot off on its last possession. A Stillman defender deflected Hayden Johnson's attempted pass to Bradley Spencer and time ran out on the Bisons.

Entering the game, Harding had made 58 more free throws than its opponents had attempted, and that trend held true against Stillman, but the Bisons made only 21-of-34 (62 percent). Stillman (23-7) was 9-of-11.

“[Getting to the free throw line] has been one of our strengths all year long,” Morgan said. “To get there 32 times was awesome, but we've got to convert a little better than that.”

Harding made just 5-of-9 free throws in overtime and 6-of-12 in the second half.

The Bisons were appearing in their third NCAA Tournament and first since the 2008 season. Harding has been eliminated in its first game each time. The Bisons were the No. 2 seed, their highest seed in their three tournament appearances. Stillman, of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, was the No. 7 seed.

Kevin Brown had an outstanding game for the Bisons in the low post. He finished with 25 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Stephen Blake shot 8-of-16 and scored 18 points. Bradley Spencer had 13.

Stillman senior guard LaJay Sears had only two points at halftime, playing only seven minutes due to foul trouble. He scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and in overtime. Rakee Anderson made five 3-pointers and scored 22. Kevin Johnson had 19 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots before fouling out in overtime.

Kevin Brown's layup with 35 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 77. Stillman had four shots on its last possession, including three layups, and missed all four to send the game into overtime.

Harding led by three at 80-77 with 3:27 left in overtime as Hayden Johnson made the second of two free throws. Stillman scored the next four points and the lead changed five times in the final two minutes of overtime.

Harding's 25 victories set a new school record, topping the old record of 24 set by the 1995-96 team.

“The Lord has blessed us with some great young men,” Morgan said. “These guys have battled extremely hard. I just thought today we just ran out of time.”

It was the final game for Harding seniors Kevin Brown, Stephen Blake, Sam Brown and Matt Ragsdale.

“It was really difficult to see it go down as it did,” Kevin Brown said. “But I am really happy I came here to play. The practices, early mornings, the games, the season and the guys, I enjoyed it.”