Cowboys Seven Game Winning Streak Against Howard Payne Snapped
By: Eric Boynton
Updated: February 9, 2013
BROWNWOOD, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball
team saw its seven-game winning streak against Howard Payne come to an end with
an 85-80 loss on Saturday afternoon in American Southwest Conference action at
the Brownwood Coliseum.
HSU jumped out to an
early 19-8 lead and led by as many as 12 at 26-14 with 7:52 to play in the first
half. However, HPU used a 16-4 run to take a 30-28 with 3:22 to play in the
first half. The run was capped by a Donovan Ford 3-pointer. The Cowboys led
35-33 at halftime.
The Cowboys pushed its
lead to 44-37 early in the second half before HPU started to chip away and the
Jackets eventually took a 60-59 lead on a Brandon Gould layup with 9:28 to
play.
Eric Taylor's
3-pointers gave HSU its final lead of the game at 72-71 with 2:53 to play. HPU
then scored the next seven points and closed the game with five of six at the
free throw line in the final 30 seconds. The game featured six ties and nine
lead changes.
Howard Payne won the
game with a huge difference at the free throw line. HPU made 26-of-37, while the
Cowboys were just 10-of-18. HPU outscored HSU 23-10 in fast break points and had
a 23-13 advantage in bench scoring.
Eric Taylor led the
Cowboys with a career-best 31 points and Andy Spears had 15 points and 15
rebounds for his fifth double-double in the last six games. John Derr added 11
points and went over the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Christian Davis led
the Yellow Jackets with 19 points. Brandon Gould added 14 points, eight assists,
six rebounds and five steals and Ross Whittet added 11 points.
HSU is now 14-9 on the
season and 11-6 in ASC action. HPU improved to 7-16 overall and 5-12 in ASC
play. The Cowboys close the regular season next week at Texas Lutheran and
Schreiner.
