GEORGETOWN - The Southwestern University men's basketball team led for most of their game against Howard Payne, but am 15-3 run in the second half by the Yellow Jackets was enough to come-from-behind and upset the Pirates at home, 93-88, on Tuesday afternoon.
The Pirates shot 25 of 65 (39%) from the field including 11 of 29 (38%) from deep. Southwestern got to the line 36 times, shooting 75% from the charity stripe. On the other end, Howard Payne shot 32 of 67 (48%) including 9 of 22 (41%) from behind the arc. The Yellow Jackets got to the line 31 times (65%).
Howard Payne outrebounded the Pirates 44-42 while Southwestern won the turnovers battle by a slim margin, 14-13. The Pirates had 29 second half points as well as 24 off the bench.
It was all Pirates in the first four minutes as they raced out to an 11-2 lead as four different starters got on the board. Howard Payne came back to make it 14-9, but Southwestern maintained their lead until the Yellow Jackets tied it at 25 midway through the first half.
Southwestern pushed back ahead and were able to build a lead out to as many as eight late in the first half, eventually leading to a 42-38 lead at the break.
The Pirates again pushed their lead back out to eight in the first two minutes before Howard Payne immediately cut it down to one in the next minute. The Yellow Jackets took their first lead at 50-49 at the 15:47 mark and from there it was a quite the matchup as each team battled back and forth.
Southwestern built a 63-59 lead towards the midway point of the second half; however, Howard Payne took control of the game for the first time as they went on a 15-3 run to take a 74-66 lead. Southwestern was able to cut it down as close as two with about three minutes to play, but it was not enough as Howard Payne escaped Georgetown with a 93-88 win.
Sophomore Ryan Wheeler scored 24 points on 7 of 13 shooting including seven 3-pointers and two steals in the game. Senior Ryan Ogden pitched in 18 points including nine boards, five assists, and two steals while Brandon Alexander scored 14 points off the bench. Freshman Trenton Garrett scored 12 to go with seven rebounds while sophomore Luke Hicks scored 10 points off the bench.
Howard Payne's Khyce Randall scored 25 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists while Elijah House scored 16 points with six rebounds.
Southwestern falls to 4-7 overall, but will not prepare to open up SCAC play beginning on Friday evening as they travel to Sherman, Texas for a 6 PM matchup against Austin College.
