AUSTIN, Texas – The Howard Payne men's basketball team could not hold onto an eleven point second half lead as the Yellow Jackets fell 87-79 to Concordia University Texas Thursday evening in conference action.

Concordia got 28 points from their bench in the second half to help recover from an eleven point second half lead by the Yellow Jackets. 56% second half shooting by Concordia led to the 87-79 loss for the Jackets.

The Jackets shot 46% from the field in the first half to gain a 43-37 halftime lead. HPU would hold Concordia to 33% shooting in the period. HPU also outrebounded CTX 30-14 in the opening period.

Howard Payne would build an eleven point lead, 53-42 just three and a half minutes into the second half. From that point, Concordia put together a 13 point run to take the lead 55-53 with twelve minute remaining.

Concordia then hit back to back three-pointers to extend their lead to 61-53. Finally, a Sterling Smoak fast break dunk would break the HPU drought on their next possession.

With 3:30 remaining and the Jackets down 13, Howard Payne scored eight straight to pull within five, 80-75 with two minutes left. That was as close as Howard Payne would get with Concordia taking the game 87-79.

Brandon Gould led Howard Payne with 24 points along with seven rebounds and three assists. Gould was 13 of 16 from the line. J Bailey scored a career high 20 points and Curtis Gile led all rebounders with 12. Ty Davis would score 10 points off the bench.

Concordia was led by Josh Sanchez with a game high 25 points. Andre Potts followed with 18 points. Rashad Coleman added 15.

Howard Payne is now 7-8 overall and 7-3 in American Southwest Conference action. Concordia stands at 10-6 overall and 6-5 in conference. The Yellow Jackets will play next on Saturday at Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.