BROWNWOOD, Texas – The Howard Payne University men's basketball team fell behind by as many as 17 points before rallying to defeat the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 75-70 on Thursday night at the Brownwood Coliseum. 

Khyce Randall went 10-12 from the free throw line and finished with 28 points to lead all players in scoring on the night. J Bailey and Donovan Jenkins each pulled down 11 rebounds apiece and Rickey Guillory finished with 14 points to help deliver Howard Payne (11-6, 7-2 ASC) its second straight victory. J Bailey also pulled down a career-best eight blocks on the night to help smother the UMHB defense late. 

The Yellow Jackets came out of the gate slow and The Crusaders (11-6, 4-4 ASC) cruised to a 16-4 lead to start the game. Daniel Mills almost single-handedly got the scoring started for UMHB while Howard Payne wouldn't attempt a rally until Rickey Guillory started getting to the rim for some easy buckets to help open things up for the Howard Payne offense. 

De'Marcus Hurd and Khyce Randall also started getting hot toward the end of the first half, with Randall sinking a three-pointer to help HPU rally back from a 17 point deficit to bring the score to 31-30 at halftime. 

Khyce Randall would go on to dominate the second half, scoring 23 of his 28 points in the game's final 20 minutes.  With Randall pacing the offense, the Howard Payne defense locked down, forcing UMHB into shooting just 32% from the field while Donovan Jenkins pulled down nine of his 11 rebounds in the half and scored a layup to help give the Yellow Jackets a 39-37 lead with 16 minutes remaining. 

Howard Payne would never again trail in the game, but they did let the Crusaders come within one point of the lead with just under five minutes left to go in the game. But Khyce Randall settled in and buried the games final three shots to help deliver the 62-57 victory. 

Next up, the Yellow Jackets are set to host Concordia University at the Brownwood Coliseum. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 PM and Dallas Huston will have the call on 99.3 FM. Live video and stats will be made available at HPUsports.com and Facebook Live. Follow along on Twitter @HPUmbsk for in-game updates and more. Also, follow us on Instagram @HPUSports for interactive content of all HPU sports programs.