Jan. 3, 2008

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - For the fifth time in six American Southwest Conference games the Hardin-Simmons men fell behind by double digits, but this time they could not rally in a 72-63 loss to Ozarks in ASC action Thursday night at the Mabee Complex.

The Cowboys trailed 36-26 at halftime after shooting just 36 percent, while Ozarks was shooting 15-for 29 for 51.7 percent.

Ozarks came out of the locker room and moved its lead out to as much as 19 at 60-41. The Cowboys then went a late 14-1 surge to cut it to 65-61 with 1:05 to play. In the final minute Ozarks sealed the game at the line by hitting 7-of-8 charity tosses. The free throw line was the glaring difference in the game as HSU went 7-for-17 at the line and Ozarks hit 15-of-19 shots.

One bright spot for the Cowboys was Mardochee Jean, who scored 14 points to move past the 1,000-point barrier for his career. He and Steven Luckey led the Cowboys with 14 points each. Rob Yeatts added 10 points.

Habeeb Kareem led Ozarks with 17 points and Jeremy Clark added 13.

HSU fell to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in league play. Ozarks improved to 5-4 overall and 2-3 in conference action. HSU is off until Jan. 10 when it plays at UT-Dallas.