BROWNWOOD, Texas – Howard Payne University's late game push came up short as the Yellow Jackets fell 66-63 to Concordia University Texas Thursday evening.

After leading by seven midway through the first half, the Yellow Jackets found themselves down 31-26 at the break. Howard Payne shot just 28% from the field in the first half while Concordia was at 52%.

Concordia pushed its lead to 13, 41-28 minutes into the second half. The Jackets rallied to tie the game at 51-51 midway through the half on a J Bailey layup. HPU continued its 8-0 run to build a 57-51 lead with 6:40 remaining on an Evan Vaden layup.

Concordia regained the lead 64-63 with 2:37 left to play and the Jackets' attempts to tie the game did not connect in the closing minutes leading to a 66-63 Jacket loss.

Howard Payne was led by Evan Vaden with a game high 17 points off the bench. DJ Gardner and Khyce Randall each added nine points. 

Ben Page led Concordia with 16 points and Greg Rollins had 11 points.Rashad Coleman and Demarco Richardson each added 10 points.

Howard Payne is now 9-14 overall and 4-8 in American Southwest Conference action. Concordia is now 13-9 overall and 7-5 in conference play. The Jackets will play at home on Saturday at 3:00 pm versus the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.