Box Score The Wayland Baptist Pioneers gave everything they could in a 73-64 loss against #6 Southern Nazarene University on Military Appreciation Night at Hutcherson Center. A dry spell to start the second period made the difference in the game, however, turning a six point halftime lead for the Pioneers into a four point advantage for the visitors from Oklahoma, who have now won 12 straight and improve to 21-4 overall and 16-1 in conference play.
Johnny Terra started things off the right way for the WBU men (8-14, 4-13) with a long three-pointer 70 seconds into the game. The Storm came back to take a 10-8 lead, but a 6-0 Pioneer run put Wayland back on top to stay for the remainder of the opening period.
The Pioneers, who led 27-21 at the intermission, shot 45 percent in the first half, while holding SNU to 30 percent from the field. Two free throws by Tommie Sanders to open the final period put WBU up by eight, 29-21, but those were the only points the Pioneers could muster until freshman Chase Turner hit a short jumper in the paint with 13:32 left in the game.
Terra's lay-up after a SNU turnover tied the score at 40 two minutes later, but the Storm outscored the Pioneers 15-4 over the next five minutes to take control.
After a dismal first half of shooting, the visitors stormed back to hit 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the field in the second period. WBU also improved its shooting in the final 20 minutes, hitting 12-of-24, but the Pioneers knocked down just one of their eight three-point attempts in the half, while SNU made good on 5-of-8 long distance shots. The WBU men did more success at the charity stripe, hitting 17 of their 19 attempts, compared to Southern Naz's 18-of-25.
Bobby Watkins had 16 points. Jason Griffin came off the bench to put in 15, and Tommie Sanders also scored in double digits with 11. Sanders was the game's rebounding leader with seven, and had a team-high four assists and three steals.
Wayland converted 21 SNU turnovers into 15 points and limited the Storm to just six fastbreak points, all in the final period. SNU won the rebounding battle, 31-23, and controlled the points in the paint, 32-22.
Adrian Hunter and Xavier Alexander led the visitors with 17 and 14 points respectively.
The Pioneers will attempt to get back in the win column on Saturday against USAO (5-15, 3-12). The Drovers were 94-88 winners over Lubbock Christian on Thursday.
