Feb. 1, 2007

Final Stats

BROWNWOOD, Texas - Senior Zach Pickelman scored a career-high 36 points as Hardin-Simmons held off Howard Payne 77-69 in American Southwest Conference men's basketball action Thursday night at the Brownwood Coliseum.

Pickelman hit five 3-pointers in the first half and also hit 11 of 12 free throws in the second half to propel the Cowboys win. He added 10 rebounds as well. His previous career-best came on the road at Ozarks when he had 34 points in December.

The Cowboys opened up an eight-point halftime lead when Pickelman had a lay-up at the buzzer to end the first half. HSU was never threatened by the Yellowjackets, until the final minute of the game after that. The Cowboys led by as many as 15 points at 63-48 with 6:12 to play, before HPU went on a 13-2 rally to cut it to 65-61 with 1:21 to play.

Howard Payne resorted to fouling in the last minute and Matt Brackett and Pickelman hit nine straight free throws in the final minute to ice the game.

James Peters added 12 points and Brackett chipped in 11 for the Cowboys, who won their third straight game for the first time this season.

Kendrick Johnson led the Yellow Jackets with 26 points on 9-for-21 shooting.

The Cowboys are now 11-9 on the year and 11-5 in league play. Howard Payne fell to 5-15 overall and 5-11 in league play. HSU will travel to Alpine for a 3 p.m. game with Sul Ross State on Saturday. The game can be heard on KSLI 1280 AM in Abilene or at www.hsuathletics.com.