Box Score In an extremely physical defensive battle at Hutcherson Center on Saturday afternoon, the #12 Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm prevailed 55-45 over the Pioneers of Wayland Baptist.
The low score wasn't much of a surprise with the game featuring two of the top three scoring defenses in the conference. Wayland coach Robert Davenport's squad is number one, allowing just 63.8 points a contest, while the Storm are third, giving up just 65 points per game.
SNU led the entire contest, but didn't extend the margin into double digits until the second half. The Pioneers went into the locker room trailing by six at the break, despite hitting just six of their first 22 shots in the contest.
Unfortunately, things didn't get any better for Wayland in the second period. In fact, it got worse as the WBU men went 6-of-24 from the field in the final 20 minutes of play. A lot of that could be attributed to a very tight SNU defense that managed to get a hand or other body part on just about every Pioneer shooter.
WBU cut the lead to five two different times late in the game, the last of which came on George Williams' soft dunk with 1:09 remaining. The Storm hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to preserve the victory and improve to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in league action.
SNU outscored Wayland 20-10 in the paint and converted 17 Pioneer turnovers into 21 points, but the rebounds were tied at 31 per team. The Storm entered Saturday's contest ninth-best in the NAIA in rebounding margin, pulling down almost ten boards a game more than their opponents.
Williams led all scorers with 16 points. Bobby Watkins added 13, and Rodrigo Silva had a game-high eight rebounds.
A.J. Thomas paced the visitors with 15 points.
The Pioneers fall to 6-9 on the season and 1-7 in SAC action. Up next is the longest conference road trip of the season. On Thursday Wayland will play in Arkansas against John Brown University, and then will take on Rogers State in Claremore, Okla. on Saturday.
