Box Score PLAINVIEW, Texas --- The Wayland Baptist Pioneers scored the first ten points of their game against Lubbock Christian on Monday, but one six minute stretch in the second half cost the Pioneers dearly in a 63-58 loss to their arch-rivals at Hutcherson Center.
"It was a typical LCU versus Wayland game," said Robert Davenport, the Pioneer coach after the contest. "Both teams came out and played hard. It just came down to that one stretch where we committed six or seven turnovers, and they converted every one of them into points."
Spurred on by their hot start, the Pioneers maintained the lead for the entire first half. The period ended with a bang when Bobby Watkins got a steal and a dunk with 11 seconds left to make it 35-28, but Russ Permenter made it a five-point game with a turn-around jumper just inside the free throw line at the buzzer.
C'Jamarion Leashore scored the first two baskets of the second period to put the Pioneers up by nine, but that's when the bottom fell out. After missing its next two field goal attempts, WBU committed five straight turnovers that led to 13 LCU points and the Chaps went on to turn a nine point deficit into a ten point advantage with 12 minutes to play.
George Williams hit two free throws on Wayland's next possession to cut the margin back to single digits, but the Pioneers never got closer than five until the final minute when Williams hit back-to-back threes to make it a two-point game with 18 seconds remaining.
LCU's Kenny Hewitt hit three out of four free throws in the final seconds to nail down the victory for his team, which improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play.
Davenport blamed himself for not getting his team out of the jam it found itself in during the second half. "Most of those turnovers happened right in front of our bench. I should have made them take the ball back out and reset the offense.
"We've got to learn to take care of the ball against the good teams, though. We just need to settle down and learn how to win together. We're real close. It's a long season and we've got to remember that."
Williams led the Pioneers with 20 points and four steals. Watkins added 12, and Johnny Terra had a team-high six rebounds.
The WBU men won the rebounding battle, 33-29, but lost the battle in the paint, 26-18. The Chaps wound up converting 16 Pioneer turnovers into 24 points - ten of the miscues and 16 of the points came in the second half.
LCU was led by senior Matt Read who had 18 points and 10 boards.
Wayland (5-2, 0-2) returns to conference play later in the week with a road trip to Oklahoma where they will take on Oklahoma City University on Thursday and Mid-America Christian on Saturday.
