MARSHALL, Texas – The Howard Payne University men's basketball team fell 77-72 to East Texas Baptist University on Saturday evening at Ornelas Gym.  

Howard Payne forced 19 turnovers and collected nine steals but fell behind early and couldn't escape their shooting woes. The Jackets finished the game shooting just 34% from the field and 6-26 from range.  

Khyce Randall had a season best 27 points and J Bailey matched a career high, 12 rebounds in the loss. Randall also grabbed seven rebounds and finished the game shooting 9-10 from the free throw line. His aggressive play helped keep the Yellow Jacket offense in the game until the final seconds. 

Rickey Guillory finished with 14 points. six rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Shadd Cole had nine points in the loss. J Bailey finished with seven points, four blocks, three assists and 12 rebounds (seven offensive, 5 defensive.) 

The Jackets fell behind 8-0 to start the game but battled back to get within four points, 12-8 after Thomas Bingham pulled down an offensive board and went back up to collect his lone field goal of the day with 11:10 remaining in the half. 

The Tigers reeled off twelve straight unanswered points to pull ahead by as many as 11 points before Khyce Randall hit a couple of free throws and Rickey Guillory drained a three pointer to cut into ETBU's deficit, 33-27 to close out the first half. 

Howard Payne used that late first half momentum to carry them early in the second half, going 4-4 from the field to pull away with a 39-35 lead with 17 minutes left in the game. Back-to-back threes from ETBU notched the game back up at 46-46 with 14 minutes remaining.  

The Jackets were able to match baskets with the Tigers the rest of the way until East Texas Baptist got hot from beyond the arc and began to pull away. They were up 71-62 with 1:47 left to play but Howard Payne kept fighting, scoring on the games next three possessions to cut the Tiger lead to 71-69 with half minute left in the game. 

The Tigers' Landin Brown settled down and knocked down four free throws to help ETBU withstand the Yellow Jackets comeback and hold on for the 77-72 victory. 

Howard Payne will now head back home to face the University of the Ozarks on Thursday, December 15th at 7:30 PM. Live stats and video will be available on HPUSports.com and keep up with the Yellow Jackets on Twitter and Instagram by following @HPUSports