McMurry got out to an early 19-6 lead before Howard Payne called a timeout with 15:15 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets countered with a 12-5 run to make the score 24-18 in favor of McMurry at the media timeout with 12:43 remaining. The run continued for the Yellow Jackets as they pulled ahead 43 seconds later, 25-24.
The Indians climbed back to within four after a Brison Daily 3-pointer with 4:06 remaining, then it was back-and-forth before McMurry went to the locker room at halftime trailing just 52-49. The Indians had nine players score in the first half and Fred Baker led them with 11 while Finlay Brashears chipped in eight before intermission.
Howard Payne extended its lead in the second half to eight points after a 15-10 advantage in the first 5:20 of the final period. Kendrick Johnson had great success running the floor for Howard Payne in the second half and his layup on the fast break with 13:55 put the Yellow Jackets up 14 points.
From then on, Howard Payne was able to keep any McMurry run at bay.
Free throws plagued the Indians throughout the contest, they were just 4 of 8 in the first half and finished 10 of 18. And, after starting out a hot 9 for 17 from 3-point land in the first half, the Indians finished 11 of 35 for just a .314 percentage.
Brashears led the Indians in scoring with 16, Fred Baker and Terence Mirabal helped in the losing effort with 13 and 10 points respectively. Johnson scored a game-high 28 points for the Yellow Jackets and all five starters had at least 15 points.
McMurry will look to rebound off the loss Saturday with a match up against Sul Ross State in Alpine at 3 p.m.