'Roos Drop Season Opener at Howard Payne

BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Austin College men's basketball team led for much of its season opening game at Howard Payne, but the 'Roos would fall short in a 73-64 defeat against the Jackets on Friday evening.

Austin College took a 33-25 lead into halftime and the margin grew to 40-28 early in the second on a three by Jackson Rennie, but Howard Payne used a 17-0 run to surge ahead 45-40 with 13:23 left to play. The Jackets maintained their lead until a dunk by Jason Jones put the 'Roos ahead 55-54 with 6:54 left, and a Nate Williams triple put the 'Roos up 61-58 with 4:51 left on the clock. However, the Jackets would close the game with a 15-3 run, including scoring the next 12 points to go on top 70-61.

The 'Roos turned the ball over 23 times, which the Jackets converted into 23 points, while Austin College converted 17 HPU turnovers into just 13 points. The Jackets also out-scored the 'Roos 18-7 at the free throw line, with the 'Roos making only 7-of-17 from the stripe while Howard Payne hit 18-of-29. Rennie led Austin College with 16 points, hitting 6-of-15 shots overll and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc, and Williams and Kidus Getenet each scored 10. Jones just missed out on a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the loss.