BROWNWOOD, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' Cowboy basketball team defeated the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets in a shootout 96-94 on Thursday night on the road in American Southwest Conference play.
The Cowboys got up by 12 points early, leading 25-13 midway through the first half of play. Howard Payne clawed its way back to only trail 41-36 at halftime.
Neither team led by more than six points through the second half, trading leads and runs. HSU and HPU combined for 20 lead changes and 10 tied scores in the ASC match Thursday night.
The score was tied at 87-87 with a few minutes left before Mathew Alexander got the Cowboys a bucket to lead. Alexander got a crucial offensive rebound to score another layup, taking HSU up 91-87.
Howard Payne hit some free throws and had a 3-pointer from Jarod Johnson to take the lead 92-91 with a minute remaining.
Chris Bryant tied the game for HSU with a free throw at 92-92 to follow.
The Cowboys got to the free throw line again and converted five in the final 30 seconds to seal the win 96-94 over the Yellow Jackets.
Five Cowboys had double-figures at Howard Payne.
Austin Brewer led the team with 26 points. He shot 7-15 and made 12 free throws in the win.
Will Bartoszek scored 18 points for Hardin-Simmons.
Chris Bryant, Mathew Alexander, and
Silas Livingston each scored 13 points in the win for the Cowboys Thursday.
The Cowboys improve to 10-8 and 3-0 in the ASC with the team's sixth win in a row and will host the UTD Comets in a non-conference match next Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Mabee Athletic Complex.
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