Abram Choate, SID

BROWNWOOD, Texas – The Howard Payne men's basketball team fell behind in the second half and was unable to regain the lead in an 81-75 loss to the University of Texas Dallas Comets Thursday evening.

The Yellow Jackets shot 57% from the field in the first half but went into the half down by one, 41-42. UTD shot the ball well from behind the arc hitting 6 in the first half.

In the second UTD was able to build an 8 point lead just seven minutes into the half, 56-48 UTD. HPU battled back and tied the game a 62-62 with 5:25 to play on a Lee Scott 3-pointer. UTD again push a lead up to 8 points before securing the 81-75 win.

The Jackets fell to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the ASC, while UTD improved to 7-3 and 3-2 in ASC action.

HPU was led by ASC scoring leader Tom Hermann with 20 points. Lee Scott and Gary Thompson added 14 and 13 points respectively. Bryan Blalock had 11 points and 8 rebounds, while Brock Woods tossed in 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

Brandon Greene and Scott Rodgers led UTD with 15 points each. Erniw Lowery had 14 and Temaine Wright and Jimmy Witten both had 12 points.

The Yellow Jackets will take on the University of Texas Tyler on Saturday at 3:00 PM.