Box Score Playing for nothing but pride, the Wayland Pioneers came from behind to defeat #14 Oklahoma City University 73-69 on Thursday evening at Hutcherson Center. A three-pointer by senior Jason Griffin tied the score for the first time, 34 minutes into the game, and another Griffin trey with 2:38 left in the game put the Pioneers on top for the first time in the contest.
WBU (11-15, 7-14) did not score a field goal in the final two minutes, but went 6-for-6 from the free throw line to hold onto the victory.
Four Pioneers scored in double figures led by Rishi Kakad with 16. Johnny Terra added 15 and Griffin and Taylor Janowicz came off the bench to contribute 14 and 13 points respectively.
Wayland fell behind by nine (20-11) seven minutes into the game, but back-to-back three pointers by Griffin closed the gap to three. Six minutes later Kakad hit a trey to make it 29-27 with 7:11 left in the opening period.
The Stars went on a 8-2 run to make it 37-29 with just over four minutes before intermission, but Terra hit two technical foul shots to make it a five-point game (40-35) at the break.
Kavon Lytch, OCU's big man inside, stretched the lead back to nine with 9:16 on the clock, and that is when the Pioneers got down to business.
Terra scored the next four points to make it 57-52, and then Janowicz sank two free throws to make it a one possession ballgame. Two OCU baskets, the last of which was a trey, sandwiched a hook shot by Janowicz that made it 62-56, but Kakad hit the last of his four three-pointers, to put Griffin in position to tie the game.
Tommie Sanders and Bobby Watkins both played all 40 minutes of the contest. Sanders had a game-high seven assists and two steals, while Watkins scored nine points, ahd three rebounds and dished out three assists.
The Pioneers were outscored 36-12 in the paint and were outshot from the field 56 percent to 48 percent, but Wayland had the hot hand from outside, hitting 11 of their 20 three-point attempts. OCU was just 5 of 14 from beyond the arch.
The final game of the 2009-10 Pioneer season will be at 4 p.m. Saturday against Mid-America Christian University (15-14, 11-10). That game will start an hour later than normal to accommodate WBU's Homecoming 2010 Celebration.
