BROWNWOOD, Texas – Shooting 64 percent, East Texas Baptist University hit the century mark in a 115-99 victory over Howard Payne University in the American Southwest Conference. Five players scored in double figures as ETBU moved to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the ASC.
 
"We are thankful for the win as it hard on the road so far away from home. We didn't click on all cylinders but we were lucky enough to walk away with the win and that's what we had to have," said head coach Chris Lovell. "I'm proud of these guys and we got the win and now we are onto the next one."
 
Darry Moore tied his career high collecting his second 30-point game of his career with seven rebounds shooting 10-of-12 from the floor and going 10-of-10 at the free throw line. Aaron Gregg continued his scoring spree with his sixth straight 20-plus point game adding 25 points, five assists, five rebounds, also shooting great at 8-of-11. Ryan Elzy added 19 points followed by Jayden Williams 15 points and Jaden Conner's 13 points as he led the team with eight rebounds. Jarod Johnson led HPU with 23 points.
 
Both teams shot great from the floor as ETBU made 64 percent and HPU 51 percent. ETBU then made 53 percent from the arc (8-of-15) as HPU was 8-of-21 for 38 percent. ETBU then went 27-of-35 at the line (77 percent) as HPU only made 53 percent (17-of-32) of their free shots. ETBU also out rebounded HPU, 38-31.
 
The first five minutes of the game went back-and-forth with four ties. At 14:43, Conner broke the 17-17 tie on a layup. That started an 8-1 run over a minute and half for a seven-point lead, 25-18, as Gregg made two free throws. Michael Roberts assisted a Moore layup at 11:04 for the first double digit lead of the game at 10, 31-21. Conner then made it a 12-point game, 35-23, at the 10:16 mark on a layup. With 8:42 left in the half, Gregg canned a three-pointer for the largest lead to the moment of 14-points, 42-28. HPU cut the lead to 12, 42-30, 30 seconds later only to see ETBU go on a 10-0 run in four minutes later for a 22-point lead, 52-30. At the 4:25 mark, Gregg converted a three-point play for a 23-point lead, 55-32. HPU had the lead down to 15 just before the half but Moore hit a shot with three seconds left for a 63-46 lead at the half.
 
HPU came within 12 to being the second half, 65-53, but by the 15:15 mark ETBU had the lead back to 21 points, 75-54, on a Kevin Charles layup. Three minutes later, HPU was once again within 12, 75-63 (12:48), and had the lead down to 10 points, 77-67, with 10:48 left to play. Over the next two and half minutes, ETBU went on a 13-5 run to push the lead back to 18 points, 90-72, on a Gregg three-pointer. With just under five minutes to play, HPU came back to within 11 points, 97-86, but once again ETBU answered with a 10-2 run ending with two Moore free throws for a 19-point lead, 107-88. The lead did dip down to 13 points, 112-99, with 46 seconds left but Gregg made the final basket of the game on a three-pointer for the 115-99 win.
 
ETBU travels to Sul Ross State University on Saturday in Alpine for another ASC game at 3:00 p.m.