AUSTIN, Texas – Andre Potts helped the Concordia University Texas men's basketball team overcome an 11-point second-half deficit, and the Tornados surged past Howard Payne 87-79 on Thursday night at Concordia Fieldhouse.
Potts scored 11 of his 18 points during a 19-0 run for Concordia Texas (10-6, 6-5 ASC) in the second half.
The Yellow Jackets (7-8, 7-3 ASC) took a 53-42 lead after Brandon Gould knocked down a free-throw shot with 16:24 to play. But, then the momentum changed in the Tornados' favor.
Donovan Ford started the run with a free throw, before Potts hit a layup.
Clay Marley then hit a layup on the ensuing possession. Over the next two minutes, Ford hit three free throws to trim the lead to 53-50.
Potts then went to work.
The senior guard proceeded to hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 12:38 to play. After
PJ Escobar raced past the Howard Payne defense for a layup to give CTX the lead, Potts connected on two more triples to push the advantage to 61-53.
The Yellow Jackets stopped the run with a dunk by Sterling Smoak. However, it was a brief pause in Concordia's surge. Potts hit another 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor to increase the run to 22-2.
Howard Payne was able to pull within 80-75 with 2:21 left, but the Tornados ended the game by scoring seven of the final 11 points to secure their seventh win in the last eight games.
Josh Sanchez scored a game-high 25 points, while
Rashad Coleman logged 15 and Ford netted 10.
Gould paced the Yellow Jackets with 24 points, while J Bailey chipped in with 20 and Curtis Gile pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Tornados will resume league action on Saturday against Sul Ross State. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
