The Howard Payne Yellow Jackets overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to take a brief one-point lead in the second half, but were unable to survive a second barrage of points from Mary Hardin-Baylor in a 110-90 American Southwest Conference men’s basketball loss Saturday at the Brownwood Coliseum.
Forced to finish the game without multi-time ASC Player of the Week Armonie Ramey, who left late in the first half with an injury, the Yellow Jackets (12-9, 0-2) were outscored 58-41 in the second half by UMHB (15-6, 2-0).
Mary Hardin-Baylor shot 53 percent (39 of 73) from the field, 43 percent (13 of 30) from beyond the three-point arc, and 83 percent (19 of 23) at the free throw line.
Former HPU Yellow Jacket Hudson Johnson scored a game-high 26 points for UMHB trailed by 22 from Donta Coady, 20 from Elijah Lawrence 12 from Connor Zamiara, and 11 points from Zachary Engels.
Howard Payne drained 46 percent (32 of 69) of its shots, 37 percent (9 of 24) of its treys, and 94 percent (17 of 18) of its free throws, but couldn’t keep pace.
Ben Phillip scored a team-high 22 points for the Jackets followed by 12 from Avant Coleman, 10 each from Carter May and Trey Jackson, eight from Jordan McClendon, seven from Ramey, six from Braylon Crosby, five each from Carter Eddy and Jackson Tomlin, three from Nathan Scott, and two points from Evan Duncan.
The Yellow Jackets will attempt to secure their first ASC win at 7 p.m. Thursday when they host Hardin-Simmons (13-8, 2-0) in a rematch of a 101-86 loss in Abilene Jan. 17.
