SHERMAN, Texas – The Howard Payne University men's basketball team picked up their fourth straight victory during a 74-67 contest against Austin College on Monday evening at Hughey Gymnasium.   

Rickey Guillory recorded a career high, seven blocks while also leading all players in scoring with 20 points. Khyce Randall finished with 19 points and eight rebounds and De'Marcus Hurd added nine points in the victory. 

Howard Payne (9-5, 6-1 ASC) led for the first 10 minutes of the game, receiving some solid post play from J Bailey and Donovan Jenkins in the paint to start out the first half. Rickey Guillory and Khyce Randall would each hit shots from distance to stretch the lead to as many as six before Austin College (5-9) mounted a come-back.  

Behind some hot-shooting, the Kangaroos were able to build a seven point lead with five minutes remaining in the half. Rickey Guillory than got hot form the outside, burying two jumpers, including one from the distance to help the Jackets take a 37-32 lead heading into halftime. 

Howard Payne would never again trail in the game and came out of halftime and built a nine point lead mid-way through the final half. Austin College kept fighting but for every scoring run they made, the Yellow Jackets were able to respond with timely three-point shooting.  

Shadd Cole provided a nice spark late in the game, finishing with eight of his nine points in the game's final ten minutes while also handing out a couple of clutch assists too. Khyce Randall would settle in and sink the final two free throws to ice the game and give the Jackets their ninth victory on the season. 

This was the Yellow Jackets' final non-conference game of the season before heading into the bulk of their ASC schedule. This Thursday, the 12th at 7:30 PM will be their sixth straight road game when they take on Hardin-Simmons in Abilene. KPSM 99.3 will have the call on local radio and live stats and video will be available at HPUSports.com