Box Score ESPANOLA, N.M. --- Isaiah Jackson hit a shot with one second remaining to give the Wayland Baptist Pioneers an 88-86 victory over Northern New Mexico College in the basketball team's season opener on Tuesday evening.
The Eagles tied the score at 86 on a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining in the game. After a WBU timeout with 15 seconds left, Jackson took the ball to the hole. The senior from New Braunfels, Texas who was fouled on the play, made the bucket, and then grabbed his own rebound after missing the free throw attempt.
Jackson had 18 points on the evening, despite spending a good portion of the game on the bench in foul trouble. Another newcomer, junior point guard TJ Jacobs, led the Pioneers in scoring with 22 points. Two returning players, seniors George Williams and Bobby Watkins, had 17 and 16 points respectively. Watkins also missed a significant amount of playing time in foul trouble.
Wayland's first-year coach Matt Garnett was glad to get the win on the road, despite a poor defensive effort.
"Both our defensive effort and execution were far below where they need to be to compete. Our coaching staff, starting with myself, has to do a better job of getting our players ready to play great team defense.
"Coach Cordova [NNMC's head man] did a great job of preparing his team. We have to get better, and it has to happen quickly."
Offensively, the Pioneers shot the ball well, hitting 56.6 percent from the field, including 54 percent from the three-point line.
The Wayland men return to the road on Sunday when they travel to Houston for an afternoon meeting with St. Thomas University. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two NAIA schools.
