BROWNWOOD, Texas – The Howard Payne men's basketball team outscored ASC West Division leader Hardin-Simmons by ten in the second half to post a 77-69 Thursday evening in the Brownwood Coliseum.

Hardin-Simmons started the game strong and would hold its largest lead of the game, 24-12 with 8:43 remaining in the first half.

Howard Payne from that point put together a 10-0 run to pull to within two. A layup by DJ Gardner with 4:32 left in the half made the game 24-22 Hardin-Simmons.

With Hardin-Simmons leading 32-30 at the half, Howard Payne started the second period with a 7-0 run to gain the lead. A three-pointer by Khyce Randall with 18:37 left to play made the score 37-32 Howard Payne.

The Jackets would go on to lead by as much as 10 in the second half. A Rikey Guillory layup with 14:35 left gave the Jackets a 49-39 advantage.

Hardin-Simmons battled back to within one with just under five minutes to play. The Jackets would make 9 of 11 free-throws down the stretch to claim the 77-69 conference victory.

Howard Payne won the battle in the paint outscoring Hardin-Simmons 40-28 and outrebounding HSU 48-43.

Khyce Randall led all scorers with 18 points. Rickey Guillory followed with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Volney Willis had 14 points and was 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. DJ Gardner had 11 points and J Bailey grabbed a game high 13 rebounds.

Hardin-Simmons was led by Christian O'neal with 15 points, Justin Jones had 12 and Duane Hopper added 10. Nathaniel Jack recorded 13 rebounds.

Howard Payne is now 6-9 overall and 3-3 in the American Southwest Conference action. Hardin-Simmons falls to 10-5 overall and 6-2 in league play. The Jackets will play McMurry University on Saturday at 3:00 pm in the Brownwood Coliseum.

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