Box Score The Wayland Baptist Pioneer basketball team had to wait nearly an hour for a group of officials to show up for their home debut against Northern New Mexico College. Once the game did get underway, it took the WBU men a while to get going, but they eventually did and pulled out a 73-41 victory.
NNMC jumped out to a 9-1 lead three minutes into the contest. It wasn't until Bobby Watkins put back an offensive rebound at the 15:32 mark that the Pioneers got their first field goal. That one bucket is all it took, though, as Wayland outscored the Eagles 17-2 over the next five minutes to take control.
Watkins finished up with a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Josh Teague came off the bench to lead the Pioneers in scoring with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Newcomer George Williams, a junior, added 11, and juco transfer, Desmaan Robinson, hauled down a game-high 14 boards.
Junior point guard C'Jamarion Leashore, who had eight points with three assists and three steals in the game, picked a pocket and hit a lay-up with 30 seconds left before the intermission to give WBU a 33-18 lead at the break. The Pioneers hit just 41 percent from the field in the first half, but found their zone in the final 20 minutes, hitting 58 percent of their shots.
Wayland dominated in the paint with a 42-18 advantage. The Pioneers converted 23 Eagle turnovers into 24 points, scored 11 points on 12 offensive rebounds, and got 32 points from their bench.
Coach Robert Davenport's team has two more home games coming up. On Tuesday the WBU men take on the University of the Southwest at 8 pm, and then play Dallas Christian College on Friday evening at 7:00.
