LONGVIEW, Texas – The Howard Payne University men's basketball team dropped their first road contest of the new year 79-92 versus LeTourneau on Thursday, January 4^th.
 
The Yellow Jackets outscored LeTourneau 16-5 in the first half in fast break points, despite heading into the break trailing 36-39. LeTourneau took the advantage on the boards as they finished the half with 11 second chance points.
 
Coming out of the half, LeTourneau made their presence felt in the trenches, scoring 32 points in the paint in the 2^nd stanza. The Yellow Jackets could not complete the comeback as they were defeated 79-92.
 
LeTourneau outrebounded HPU 50-32, including 15 second chance points. The Yellow Jackets won the turnover margin with 14 LeTourneau turnovers forced.
 
HPU shot 46.9% (27-65) from the field while knocking down seven treys at a 33.3% clip. LeTourneau finished 46.7% (35-75) from the field, nailing 11 three-pointers.
 
Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets was Hudson Johnson with 25 points followed by 13 from Ben Phillip. Jarod Johnson added 11 of his own while Chase Glasper tallied ten points.
 
LeTourneau was led by Caedmon Liebengood who finished with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Walker Blaine trailed behind scoring 17 points and snatching nine rebounds as well.
 
The Yellow Jackets will look to bounce back as they travel to Marshall, Texas to take on East Texas Baptist University on Saturday, January 6^th with tip-off set for 3:00 PM.