Box Story
SEGUIN, Texas – Howard Payne hit six of its seven shots, including two three-pointers, in overtime and survived a furious second-half rally by Texas Lutheran to post a 101-93 win Saturday.
HPU moved to 6-15 overall and to 6-11 in the American Southwest Conference West Division. HPU entered the day two games behind Sul Ross State for the fourth and final ASC West playoff spot for the conference tournament.
TLU needed a win to keep its slim playoff hopes alive. Saturday’s loss dropped the Bulldogs to 6-15 overall and to 4-13 in the ASC West.
Brandon Irwin led HPU with 22 points, and Keith Perry and John Bryant each added 21. Quintin Calloway chipped in 19.
TLU received 26 points from Henry Flores (San Antonio/Stevens/Sul Ross State) and 19 from Michael Flores (Spring/Klein Collins). Isaac Williams (San Antonio/Wagner) added 18, and Malcolm Dotson (LaMarque/LaMarque) scored 14.
Dotson hit a runner in the lane with 13 seconds left in regulation to force the overtime session.
TLU rebounded an HPU miss with five second to play and called timeout with three seconds to go in regulation. After a timeout, TLU executed a play for a long three from Michael Flores. The shot looked good at release but bounced off the back rim.
The Bulldogs trailed by 15 points with 10 minutes to play and by eight with four minutes to go. Michael Flores hit a couple of threes to get the deficit down to 10 with 5:58 remaining. Henry Flores scored 10 points in the final three minutes as the Bulldogs rallied to tie.
TLU hits the road for next week’s game at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Game time in Belton is set for 7:30 p.m. TLU will have live video and live audio for both games. Seguin radio station KWED 1580 AM will provide the audio. Check www.tlubulldogs.com for all the broadcast links.