MARSHALL, Texas - The Howard Payne men's basketball team dramatic comeback attempt came up short as the Yellow Jackets fell 75-73 to East Texas Baptist University Friday in the second round of the ASC Championship tournament.

Down nine points with 1:16 remaining, Howard Payne stormed back to get within two at 75-73, then a three to win wouldn't go as East Texas Baptist held on.

HPU started hot right out of the gates, scoring the first seven points. Brandon Gould scored first with Ty Davis scoring the next five. Down 9-2, ETBU went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead at 11-9, with Ahnre  Gray scoring four points.

Tied at 18 with 10:53 to go in the half, ETBU reeled off 12 of the next 14 points to go up by 10 at 30-20. It was their largest lead of the half, and ETBU would take a seven point lead into half at 39-32.

ETBU never trailed in the second half, but there were a few moments where HPU got within striking distance. At 17:25 HPU pulled within five at 42-37, then four at 48-44.

Down 74-65 with 1:16 to go, HPU made their move. Blake Arbogast hit a three from 30 feet out with 57 seconds to go, then a turnover by Dylan Augustine allowed Khyce Randall to hit a three to pull within three at 74-71 with 47 seconds left.

The next possession Arbogast got a steal, threw it to Ty Davis as he went out of bounds, then Davis missed a breakaway layup that would have pulled them within one.
Jorden Young had two chances to score but couldn't convert. Gray grabbed the board and hit a foul shot to put ETBU up 75-71. Gray missed the second shot, then with 19 seconds left Randall made a layup to pull HPU within two at 75-73.

After an ETBU turnover, HPU called timeout with 10 seconds left, with one last chance, Randall put up a three that rimmed out. Guillory got the rebound but could not put up a second shot as ETBU held on to advance to its first ASC Championship game.

HPU leading scorer Brandon Gould scored 25 and grabbed 10 rebounds, both team highs. Khyce Randall added nine points followed by J Bailey with eight.

Justin Felicia led ETBU with 18 points while Ahnre Gray had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jamil Samuel, Tyler Day and Junior Mitchell also scored in double figures with 13, 10 and 11 points, respectively.

In the three meetings this season, HPU and ETBU each scored 223 points. ETBU won both games in Marshall by two points while HPU won by four in Brownwood. Howard Payne finishes the season at 15-12 overall.