Pioneers Come Close Once Again

Marquis Green hit a basket with just under one second left in the game to pull the Wayland Baptist men to within a bucket against Mid-America Christian on Saturday afternoon at Hutcherson Center.  Green then got a chance to tie it when he came up with the deflected end bounds pass after a MACU timeout, but his 17-foot jumper as the buzzer sounded rimmed out, preserving the 83-81 victory for the visiting Evangels.

It is the fifth WBU loss this season by three points or less.

Pioneer coach Matt Garnett was obviously disappointed that his team came so close to sending the game into overtime, but said that he was pleased with the effort at the end.  

"I am really proud of the way we finished," said Garnett.  "The guys did a great job of getting in a position to have that final chance."

The WBU men, who saw an early 12-3 lead evaporate, were down 46-40 at the half, despite shooting 61 percent from the field.  MACU had the lead thanks to 14 trips to the free throw line.  The Evangels converted 10 of those shots into points.

A George Williams jumper at the 14:40 mark of the second period closed the gap to one, 54-53, and TJ Jacobs tied the score at 57 a minute later. 

The Pioneers were finally able to get a lead on a conventional three point play by Robert Curtis with just under ten minutes remaining.  After a Bobby Watkins jumper tied it at 67 with 8:41 on the clock, the Evangels scored 11 of the next 14 points to go up by eight – 78-70 – with 4:25 remaining.

Wayland would cut the deficit back to two twice in the final 1:03, but could get no closer.

Curtis, Wayland's junior center, had a career day with 23 points and 15 rebounds, but the Pioneers had no answer for the 1-2 punch of MACU's Charlie Shorter and Brandon Williams.  Shorter, the conference's leading scorer with a 21 point average, scored 27 points, while Williams put in 19, 16 of which came in the second half.  The two guards were 7-of-10 from beyond the arch.

"Once again I was most disappointed with our lack of commitment on the defensive end," Garnett said.  "We talked about it in our first team meeting back in the fall – that we would be as good as our defense would be, and unfortunately that has proven true.

"The positive thing is we are physically capable of playing good defense.  Passion is needed to be competitive, and we have to find that passion against LCU in Lubbock on Monday."

Joining Curtis in double figures against MACU were Jacobs with 16 and Jamie Eisinger with 10.  Jacobs also had a game-high five assists.

The Pioneers shot 50 percent against the Evangels and won the battle inside, outscoring their opponent 30-26 in the paint and pulling down ten more rebounds (41-31).  MACU (12-11, 7-11) shot 49 percent from the field, but made good on 9 of its 16 long range attempts.

WBU (10-15, 4-13) will look to put an end to its three-game losing streak on Monday on the road in Lubbock against Lubbock Christian.  The Chaps (12-12, 8-9) defeated Oklahoma City University on Saturday afternoon, 66-63.