ABILENE, Texas - Howard Payne lost a nine point second half lead, while Abilene Christian was able hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final eight seconds Tuesday night to put the game away, 87-81, in a non-conference game at Moody Coliseum.

 

ACU led by nine points at halftime before Howard Payne rallied and surged ahead by nine points (68-59) with 6:53 to play when Craig Blackman hooked up with Kendrick Johnson on an alley-oop.  But the ACU Wildcats rallied, going on a 13-4 run that was capped by a Marcos Hubner layup, tying the score at 72-72 with 3:57 to play.

 

The game went back and forth from there as the Wildcats hit key free-throws in the last minute to put the game away.

 

Sr. guard Josh Weatherred led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points as he hit 7 off 11 3-pointers.  Kendrick Johnson had 21 points and Sean Wheeler had 17 points, although he had 11 points early in the game.

 

ACU's Hubner added 15 points for the Wildcats, while Elmo Williams had 11 and Ross 10 points and eight rebounds. 

 

The Yellow Jackets fell to 0-2 on the season and will return to action next Saturday when they take on the University of the Ozarks at 3 p.m. in Arkansas.