{Story courtesy of HPUSports.com}

The Howard Payne University men’s basketball team took down the Southwestern Pirates 113-111 in a double overtime thriller at the Brownwood Coliseum on Wednesday, November 22nd.

The Yellow Jackets were able to jump out to a 45-39 lead at halftime powered by a strong 1st half from Jarod Johnson. Southwestern came out of the break hot as they went on a 15-3 run to retake the lead from HPU.

Howard Payne led the Pirates 82-80 with one second left when a foul was called sending Southwestern to the line where they would knock down back-to-back free-throws to advance the game to it’s first overtime.

Leading 99-97 with just 15 seconds left in the first overtime, Southwestern’s Jacob Hester was able to free up for game-tying layup with three seconds remaining to send the Yellow Jackets into their second overtime.

Down 111-109 with 30 seconds left, HPU’s Jarod Johnson took it down the lane scoring a layup with a foul to give Howard Payne a chance to take the lead with 24 seconds remaining. Johnson was able to connect on the three-point play, giving HPU a 112-111 lead. The Yellow Jackets were able to turnover the Pirates on their last possession to seal the game, winning 113-111.

Howard Payne outscored the Pirates bench 52-18 led by 27 points from Jarod Johnson and 17 from Hudson Johnson. Southwestern outrebounded HPU 57-39 including 23 rebounds, only converting that into 17 second chance points. The Yellow Jackets were able to win the turnover battle forcing 17 Southwestern turnovers while only committing ten of their own.