Missed FTs, Howard Payne 3s doom Louisiana College

Missed free throws and over 50 percent shooting from long range by Howard Payne prevented the Louisiana College men from picking up its first conference win Tuesday night in Natchitoches.
The Wildcats missed nine shots from the free-throw line, while the Yellow Jackets made that many 3-pointers in their 74-68 win.
Louisiana College scored the game’s first bucket on a layup by Timothy Stokes and held that lead through 15 minutes of a low-scoring first half.
Howard Payne tied the game on a couple of different occasions, but each time, Louisiana College answered and built its lead to as big as seven points in the half.
Howard Payne’s third converted 3-pointer of the half with 3:50 left gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead at 24-23. It made three more three-pointers in the final 90 seconds of the half for a 37-32 halftime lead.
Louisiana College erased the five-point deficit quickly in the second half when a steal and layup by Patterson High alum Taylan Grogan gave the Wildcats the lead back four minutes into the half at 45-43, but that lead was erased quickly on another 3-pointer by Rickey Guillory.
From that point forward, Howard Payne held seven-point leads three different times, but the Wildcats continued to hang around. Eventually, Grogan nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give Louisiana College a 63-62 lead with 4:21 left in the game.
Just as earlier in the second half, a 3-pointer by Howard Payne put it back on top on the ensuing possession.
During the final four minutes — after falling behind by one point — Louisiana College missed four free throws, including one after a foul on a layup that would have cut Howard Payne’s lead to three with 42 seconds left.
The Wildcats had four different players finish in double digits, led by Steve Evans with 17 points. He was just one rebound shy of his second double-double. Grogan finished with 14, his second double-digit scoring effort of the year, and Raheem Regis extended his five-game streak of 10 or more points.
Louisiana College will return to Prather Coliseum Thursday to take on Sul Ross State in another American Southwest Conference matchup. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.