ABILENE – The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets were denied an appearance in the American Southwest Conference men’s championship final, falling to the tournament host Hardin-Simmons Cowboys, 98-93, in semifinal action Friday night.

The Yellow Jackets (13-13) trailed Hardin-Simmons (17-9) just 49-48 at halftime, and the game was tied at 55 with 16:34 to go. The Cowboys, however, gradually opened a double-digit advantage with the lead peaking at 13 points, 79-66, with 8:46 remaining.

A valiant comeback effort saw Howard Payne close the gap to four points, 86-82, with 3:44 left, but Hardin-Simmons re-established an eight-point cushion and the Yellow Jackets got no closer.

Howard Payne shot 44 percent (29 of 66) from the floor, 39 percent (5 of 13) from three-point land, and 79 percent (30 of 38) at the free throw line.

Jordan McClendon finished with a team-high 23 points for the Yellow Jackets trailed by 13 from Armonie Ramey, 12 from Avant Coleman, 11 apiece from Ben Phillip and Carer May, 10 from Nathan Scott, eight from Braylon Crosby, three from Jaime Puentes and two points from Jackson Tomlin.

For Hardin-Simmons – which converted 47 percent (34 of 72) of its shots, 37 percent (6 of 16) of its treys, and 69 percent (24 of 35) of its free throws – Asher Fleming scored a game-high 30 points followed by 20 from Matthew Alexander.

The Cowboys will face Mary Hardin-Baylor (19-7) at 6 p.m. Saturday for the ASC championship.