Ozarks Rallies Past Hardin-Simmons

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ABILENE, Texas -- Hardin-Simmons’ men’s basketball team let a 20-point second half lead slip away in an 87-78 American Southwest Conference loss to Ozarks on Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Complex.

The Cowboys played a great first half and held Ozarks to 24.3 percent shooting en route to a 42-31 halftime lead, while the Cowboys shot 48.4 percent. The roles reversed in the second half as the Cowboys shot just 31.7 percent and Ozarks shot 55.2 percent.

HSU also had a big advantage on the interior in the first half as they scored 22 points in the paint and allowed only 12. HSU also outscored Ozarks 21-6 on points off turnovers. In the second half, the Cowboys scored only 14 points in the paint and scored only two off of turnovers.

Ozarks pounded the ball inside the whole second half and were rewarded with 25 free throw attempts. The Cowboys shot only seven free throws in the second half as they relied more on a perimeter attack.

HSU took its biggest lead of the game at 65-45 on a Terrence Willis 3-pointer with 12:59 to play, but Ozarks responded with a 16-3 run to cut the Cowboy lead to seven with eight minutes to play. The Cowboys led 76-66 with 7:32 to play, but Ozarks outscored the Cowboys 19-2 over the last 7:32.

Willis had his best game as a Cowboy with 23 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks before fouling out with 2:02 to play. Steven Wesley had 13 points in his first game as a Cowboy and Rob Yeatts added 10 points for HSU.

Chris Williams had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Tony Daniels had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremy Clark had 17 points and Tony Brock had nine points, eight assists and six rebounds.

HSU fell to 3-6 on the year and 2-3 in league play. Ozarks improved to 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league play. HSU hosts Texas-Dallas on Monday at 7:30 p.m.