Feb. 23, 2007

Final Stats

CLINTON, Miss. - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the American Southwest Conference Tournament with a 74-65 win over LeTourneau in the first round, Friday afternoon at the A.E. Wood Coliseum in Clinton, Miss.

The Cowboys went on a 15-5 run after the game was 11-11 and went ahead 26-16. After that LeTourneau cut it to three one time, but HSU pushed it to back to an eight point advantage 33-25 at halftime with a 3-pointer by Matt Brackett and a jumper by Mardochee Jean.

"We came out and played pretty well in the first half," said HSU head coach Dylan Howard. "I thought defensively we were very good in the second half, they shot only 25 percent in the second half. Other than a few turnovers late, it was a good effort. Its survive and advance at this point."

Brackett scored the first bucket of the second half for the Cowboys and after that the lead stayed around the 10-point mark the rest of the game. HSU's biggest lead came at 52-37 with 6:20 to play. LeTourneau cut it to seven at 70-63 with :37 to play, but that as close as they would get.

Zach Pickelman led the Cowboys with 19 points, Brackett added 18 points and Mardochee Jean had 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. Brackett tied Brian Edwards' school record for made free throws with his 28th in a row. He also became the first player at HSU since 1996 with 100 assists in a season.

Jayme Bradley led the Yellow Jackets with 13 points and JJ Rockmore, Dwwones Smith and Dusty Evers each had 12 points.

HSU topped last season's win total with 15 wins as the Cowboys improved to 15-11 on the year. LeTourneau ended its season at 15-10.

HSU will play Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the ASC Semifinal. The game can be heard on KSLI 1280-AM.