Five-time American Southwest Conference Tournament men’s champion Mississippi College was shocked by Howard Payne in the first round Friday, doomed by poor second-half shooting and a breakout performance by freshman Deandray McDaniel as the Yellow Jackets won 94-90 in overtime at Mayborn Campus Center.
The East Division top-seeded Choctaws (19-6), who had advanced to every ASC Tournament final since the event’s inception in 1999, trailed by 10 points early in the second half and never led by more than four points. It was the second time since the field expanded to eight teams that a No. 4 seed won in the first round.
McDaniel, who came in averaging 4.3 points per game, poured in 25 and was 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
The Yellow Jackets (14-12) got an inside bucket and a 3 from Tom Hermann (25 points) to take a three-point lead with 2 minutes left in overtime. Josten’s Trophy finalist Tyler Winford brought MC within a point at the 1:28 mark but missed two free throws a minute later that would gave given the Choctaws the lead.
HPU’s Lee Scott made a pair from the stripe, Michael Penson missed a 3 on the other end and McDaniel made one of two fouls shots to seal it.
Bryan Blalock had 14 points and Scott added 10 for the Jackets, who shot 54 percent from the floor.
Winford scored 21 points, KiKi Christmas 13, Penson and Prince Trotter 12 apiece and Jonathan Collins 11 for the Choctaws, who shot 55 percent in the first half but only 38 percent in the second half before going 1-for-8 in overtime.
Howard Payne advanced to face Concordia Texas (18-8) in a semifinal game at 2 p.m. today.
Concordia Texas 89,
Texas-Dallas 78
After a sluggish first half, Concordia Texas was its usual explosive self the rest of the away to dispose of Texas-Dallas.
The West second-seeded Tornados scored 60 second-half points and reached their per-game season average despite posting just 29 points in the opening 20 minutes. Brad Walker scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to help Concordia overcome a 37-29 halftime deficit.
The East third-seeded Comets (17-9) struggled after intermission, going 0-for-13 from 3-point range and shooting only 58 percent from the free-throw line.
Joel McDonald and Michael Moore added 16 points apiece and Justin Reefer chipped in 10 for the Tornados.
Ernie Lowery scored 21 points to pace UT-Dallas, which got 14 points from Jimmy Witten, 12 from Brandon Greene and 10 each from Jordan Eppink and Andy Maish.
Hardin-Simmons 65,
Texas-Tyler 55
In a game that was anything but a masterpiece, Hardin-Simmons chalked up the West Division’s third consecutive win by beating Texas-Tyler.
Neither team reached double digits until the West third-seeded Cowboys (15-11) took an 11-6 lead 10 minutes in. The East second-seeded Patriots (14-12) finally cracked the 10-point barrier by cutting the gap to 13-11 with 6:33 left in the first half.
HSU built a 28-22 halftime lead and UT-Tyler hardly threatened. With 7 minutes remaining, the teams had a combined 32 fouls and 29 turnovers. The final numbers in those categories were 55 and 37, respectively.
Patrick Branche had a game-high 14 points for the Patriots, who were in the tournament for the first time.
Dan Jean scored 13 points to pace the Cowboys. Charlie Pannell added 11 and Mardochee Jean chipped in 10 for HSU, which advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
