BROWNWOOD, Texas – The Howard Payne men's basketball team used a big run in the second half to nab an 81-77 victory from conference leader East Texas Baptist University Thursday evening.

East Texas Baptist used a 53% shooting and hit 5 of 10 three-pointers in the first half to build a double digit lead. The Yellow Jackets would outrebound ETBU on the offensive glass 12-4 to stay in the game. ETBU led 41-32 at the half.

Down 10 minutes into the second half, the Jackets put together a 12-2 run to tie the game 53-53 on a Jorden Young jumper with 12:17 to play.

With the Jackets leading by two with less than a minute to play, Sterling Smoak and Khyce Randall hit key free-throws to put the game away. Howard Payne claimed the win 81-77.

Howard Payne shot 53% from the field in the second half while also hitting 10 of 13 free-throws.

Brandon Gould led HPU with 22 points and four assists. Sterling Smoak and Khyce Randall had 12 and 11 points respectively off the bench. Rickey Guillory added 10 points and six rebounds.

ETBU was led by Jamil Samuel with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Chad Herring followed with 16 points.

Howard Payne is now 13-11 overall and 13-6 in American Southwest Conference action. ETBU falls to 19-5 overall and 14-5 in league play. The Jackets will finish out the regular season on Saturday at home versus LeTourneau University at 3:00 pm. Official ASC tournament bracket information will be released by Monday morning.