The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets have pulled into a tie for eighth place in the American Southwest Conference men’s basketball standings with two games remaining. The top eight seeds qualify for the ASC championship tournament

On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets claimed a 102-96 overtime victory over Concordia University Texas Saturday afternoon in conference action.

After shooting 36.4% in the first half, Howard Payne shot 57.5% from the field in the second and overtime periods to claim its sixth conference win of the season.

With six Howard Payne players scoring in double digits there was several great performances by Yellow Jacket players.

HPU’s Frederick Watts led all scorers with 30 points on 8 of 11 shooting, 13 of 17 from the free-throw line. Also grabbing 11 rebounds, it was Watts ninth double-double of the season. Jaylan Ballou recorded one of the greatest games of his career with 13 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, and five steals.

Tyrell Thompson finished with 13 points and a game high 13 rebounds. Jerren Godfrey and Myles Brown each added 12 points.

The Jackets won the rebounding battle with the Tornados 53-42. Neither team shot the ball well from the free-throw line, both shooting under 60% from the charity stripe.

Concordia was led by Alexander Estrada with 21 points followed by Donovan Stafford with 19 points and six rebounds.

Howard Payne improves to 7-16 overall and 6-12 in American Southwest Conference action. Concordia falls to 8-12 overall and 5-11 in league play. The Jackets will finish out the regular season on the road in Abilene, Texas, Thursday at McMurry University and Saturday at Hardin-Simmons.