ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team won its American Southwest Conference opener with an 84-78 win over East Texas Baptist on Thursday evening at the Mabee Complex.

The game was tied at 24 early on and Caleb Spoon hit 3-pointers on four of five trips to give the Cowboys some breathing room at 40-26. The Cowboys led 49-39 at halftime.

ETBU came right back in the second half and scored the first seven points to cut the deficit to 49-46 and it was back and forth the rest of the game. Landin Brown's layup with 5:22 to play gave the Tigers a 75-73 lead, but the veteran Cowboys answered with a 7-2 run to take a 80-75 lead with 1:30 to play.

Jordan Quillian's offensive rebound and put back cut it to 80-77 with 1:06 to play. After a Cowboy turnover Brown split a pair of free throws with :29 to play but Christian O'Neal and Nathaniel Jack had four straight free throws for the Cowboys to ice the game.  

Dashun Dixon led a balanced Cowboy attack with 16 points. Spoon, Jack and Justin Jones each had 12 points and Duane Hopper and Joe Hoeup added 11 each. Christian O'Neal had 10 for the Cowboys. Jack had 13 rebounds for his fifth straight double-double. Jones had nine blocks in his return to the lineup.

Clayton Stanley and Robby Dooley each had 11 points for ETBU and Jordan Quillan and Dylan Augustine added 10 each.

HSU is now 3-2 on the year and 1-0 in ASC play. The Tigers fell to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in league action. The Cowboys host Louisiana College on Saturday at 3 p.m. in their next action.