A 94-73 loss at Hardin-Simmons Saturday, coupled with wins by Sul Ross and Concordia, kept the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets out of the American Southwest Conference championship tournament in head coach Nadir Dalleh’s first season.

Coming off a winless campaign a season ago, the Yellow Jackets finished 7-18 for the season and 6-14 in ASC action.

In the finale against Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne trailed 40-31 at halftime and was outscored 54-42 over the final 20 minutes. The Yellow Jackets shot 37 percent (24 of 65) from the field compared to Hardin-Simmons’ 51 percent (38 of 74).

Jaylan Ballou scored a team-high 21 points for HPU trailed by Myles Brown with 16, Isiah Thomas with 10, Tyrell Thompson with seven, Miles Koehler with five, Deven Bailey and Jeffen Godfrey with four each, and Reese Ridder and Matthew Hammonds with three points apiece.

Steven Quinn led ASC tournament No. 3 seed Hardin-Simmons (16-7, 12-6) with 19 points.