Box Score You can't get much hotter than the Pioneers were on Thursday night in their 97-79 home victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
The Wayland men hit 19 of their first 33 shots to jump out to a 17-point lead at the half. Then, instead of cooling down during the break, Coach Matt Garnett's team came out and missed just six second period field goal attempts, shooting an astounding 76 percent in the game's final 20 minutes.
"I thought what the guys did early by making their shots gave them energy," said Garnett, whose squad had lost six straight going into the contest. "That's something that has been missing the past several games. Tonight, we kept hitting and the energy just kept building."
Marquis Green had a season-high six three-pointers (on nine attempts) to lead the Pioneers with 18 points. Robert Curtis added 17 and had seven rebounds, TJ Jacobs put in 16, and Isaiah Jackson contributed 12.
WBU scored first and never trailed in the contest. After NWOSU's Daryl Glover hit a dunk to make it 12-10 at the 15:12 mark, the Pioneers scored 16 of the next 18 points to go up by 16. They would increase the margin to 19 six minutes later.
Green's three-pointer at the 12-minute mark of the second period made it a 28-point game.
"Marquis stepped up and made some huge shots that stopped some of their runs, particularly early on," Garnett added. "I thought Johnny [Terra] and Bobby [Watkins] had good games off the bench to provide a spark. They brought a lot of good movement away from the ball. Johnny was also good on the boards."
The Pioneers, now 11-14 and 5-12, outscored the Rangers 44-36 in the paint. Both teams put in eight treys and hit 13 free throws.
NWOSU, which shot just 28 percent in the first period and 41 percent for the game, was led by Glover with 16 and Jonathan Freemyer with 13.
Wayland closes out its basketball season on Saturday at 3 pm against Oklahoma Christian University.
"We just need to make sure on Saturday that we have something to hang our hat on if those same shots that went in tonight don't go down. We have to be ready to play defense against OC. They are a very good team inside."
The WBU men upset the Eagles 78-58 earlier this month in Oklahoma City.
