Box Score Three Pioneers had career nights and the Wayland men picked up their first conference win of the season with an 83-58 over St. Gregory's University. Rishi Kakad scored 33 points, Taylor Janowicz added 17 more, and Tommie Sanders dished out 10 assists to each mark a season high. All three are in their first year with the Pioneers.
SGU scored first, but Kakad hit the first of his six three-pointers less than a minute later to give WBU a lead that it never relinguished in the opening half. The Pioneers went into the locker room up 34-29, but the visitors scored eight of the first ten points after the break to grab a three-point lead five minutes into the period. Wayland briefly went back on top 40-39 after a bucket by Bobby Watkins, but the Cavaliers came back to make it 47-42 three minutes later.
A three-point play by Janowicz, followed by a Sanders' steal and lay-up tied it at 47. After a miss by SGU, Rishi hit a long three to make it 50-47. WBU extended its lead to nine when Kakad and Sanders combined to hit six straight free throws.
Wayland got its first a double-digit advantage when Johnny Terra made a beautiful pass to a wide open Watkins under the basket. Rodrigo Silva made it 63-51 on a put back, and another trey by Kakad made it a 15-point game with just over five minutes remaining.
Kakad, who hit 6-of-12 three-pointers and 12-of-13 free throws, also recorded a career high on the boards with eight. Silva and Watkins each pulled down six rebounds, and Terra was credited with a game-high three steals.
After shooting just 37 percent from the field in the first half, the Pioneers came back to hit a sparkling 61.5 percent (16-of-26) in the final 20 minutes. They also made good on 22 of their 26 attempts from the charity stripe. St. Greg's was held to 33.9 percent shooting (20-of-59) for the game, and made good on 11 of its 14 free throw opportunities.
WBU won the battle of the boards 42-29, and outscored the much-smaller Cavaliers 32-16 in the paint.
Fayzon Richey led SGU in scoring with 20 points.
The victory gives the Pioneers a record of 5-7 overall and 1-6 in conference play. They will face perhaps their toughest challenge of the season on Saturday when #3 Oklahoma Baptist brings it's 14-game win streak to Hutcherson Center. That game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
