[Story courtesy of HPUSports.com]
GEORGETOWN – The Howard Payne University men’s basketball team rallied behind a strong second half to defeat Southwestern University (TX) 79-60 Tuesday, November, 14th in Georgetown, Texas.
After a back and forth first half, HPU headed into the break leading Southwestern 40-38.
The bench provided a huge spark in the second half outscoring the Pirates bench 55-19 throughout the game. HPU’s Hudson Johnson led the way with 23 points off the bench with Myles Brown trailing right behind with 11 of his own. The Yellow Jackets used this to their advantage by outscoring Southwestern 39-22 in the second half, winning the game by 19.
The Pirates outrebounded HPU 37-29, but gave up 25 turnovers leading to 17 Yellow Jacket points. Howard Payne used transition offense to their advantage as they outscored Southwestern 26-7 in fastbreak points including 14 unanswered in the second half.
The Yellow Jackets shot 47.2% from the field and knocked down 10 three pointers on 41.7%. Southwestern shot 34.5% from the field including a 7-34 performance from behind the arc.
HPU was led Hudson Johnson’s 23 points along with Myles Brown chipping in 11. Rounding out the four double-digit scorers for the Yellow Jackets was Ben Phillip and Willie Everline scoring ten points apiece.
Leading Southwestern was Brock Luechtefeld scoring 22 points and grabbing five rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets have matched the total wins from the 2022-23 season through only four games, winning their third in a row. HPU will travel to Sherman, Texas to take on Austin College Tuesday, November 21st with tip-off set for 6:00 PM. Howard Payne took down the Roos 73-64 in their previous meeting this season.