Abram Choate, SID
BELTON, Texas - The Howard Payne University men's basketball team stunned Mississippi College 94-90 in an overtime thriller in the first round of the American Southwest Conference men's Basketball Championship Tournament Friday afternoon in Belton.
The Yellow Jackets, the fourth-seed from the ASC West, improve to 14-12 on the season and advance to a 2:00 PM semifinal game tomorrow against the winner of the Concordia
Texas/U.T.-Dallas opening-round game. The Choctaws finish the second at 19-6 overall and will miss the ASC Tournament Championship game for the first time in the 10-year history of the tournament.
The first half featured five ties and four lead changes and the Choctaws led by as many as eight points before HPU came back for a 49-48 halftime lead. The Yellow Jackets would open up a 10-points edge in the second half at 59-49 with 14:51 to play, but the Choctaws fought back and built a 73-69 lead with 6:25 to go.
Bryan Blalock's lay-up gave HPU an 84-82 lead with 50 seconds remaining, but Michael Penson drained two free-throws with 24 seconds left to tie the game. Tom Hermann had a steal and desperation three-pointer at the buzzer for HPU but missed the potential game-winner.
Prince Trotter gave MC an 86-84 lead with a pair of free-throws, but five straight points by Hermann put HPU up 89-86. MC would pull to within 91-90 with 1:01 to go, but Lee Scott hit two crucial free-throws with 25 seconds left to make it 93-90 and Deandray McDaniel added an insurance free-throw with six seconds left to provide the final margin.
Deandray McDaniel came off the bench to score a season-high 25 points for HPU on 8-12 shooting from the field and he scored 17 of those points in the first half. Tom Hermann added 25 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. Bryan Blalock had 14 points and Lee Scott chipped in 10 for HPU.
Tyler Winford topped five players in double figures for MC with 21 points. Prince Trotter had 12 points and nine rebounds, KiKi Christmas scored 13 off the bench, Michael Penson added 12 and Jonathan Collins had 11 points for the Choctaws.
