Abram Choate, SID

AUSTIN, Texas –  The Tornados of Concordia University at Austin saw a 47-44 half-time advantage disappear late in the second half as ASC West Division leader Howard Payne fought back with 54.5% shooting from the field to earn the 102-96 victory in Austin on Thursday.

After Howard Payne scored the game's first basket Concordia used an 11-0 run capped by a George Freeman three pointer to take an 11-2 advantage early on. CUA held the lead until the 4:51 mark, when So. G Lee Scott(Snyder HS) hit a pair of free throws to give the Yellowjackets a 37-35 advantage. The Tornados quickly recovered grabbing a 42-40 lead on lay-up by Valentino Maxwell and then moving the score to 47-44 at the break.

The Yellowjackets came out sharp in the second half, taking the lead and pushing the margin to five on a Sr. G Matt Zinser(Burnet HS) lay-up at the 16:15 mark that gave HPU a 58-53 lead. The lead changed seven more times before Howard Payne grabbed an 83-81 lead at the 4:37 mark that lasted for the duration of the game. Howard Payne pushed their lead to 10 on a dunk by Jr. F Sean Wheeler(San Angelo-Lake View HS) with 1:11 remaining that gave HPU a 96-86 lead. Concordia closed the gap to five down the stretch, but eventually fell 102-96.

Sean Wheeler led Howard Payne with 28 points on 12-of-21 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds. Sr. C Cliff McGuire(Haskell HS) tallied a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds on the night and Lee Scott recorded 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Matt Zinser and Jr. G Kendrick Johnson(Willowridge HS) both had 14 points and 9 rebounds each, and Zinser also had 7 steals in the game.

Valentino Maxwell led Concordia with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while George Freeman added 20 points and six rebounds. Joel McDonald recorded 16 points and Michael Moore and Devin Marburger each added 10 points. Sanora Baptiste had a team-high 12 rebounds in the loss.

The Yellow Jackets will take on the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday in Belton at 3:00pm.