Box Score Although the seven Pioneer seniors didn't manage to pull off the upset on Saturday afternoon in their final collegiate appearances, the Wayland Baptist men did put up a good fight before finally succumbing to Oklahoma Christian, 84-72.
Seniors George Williams, Jamie Eisinger and Bobby Watkins all scored in double figures. Williams and Eisinger put in 13 a piece, and Watkins added 10 points to go with his eight rebounds.
"The character that these seniors have really came through today, particularly in the last 2:30 minutes," said WBU coach Matt Garnett. "We didn't pull out the win, but those guys gave it their all. This program will be able to move forward due to this group of guys."
Robert Curtis hit two free throws at the 11:14 mark of the first half to give the Pioneers a 17-13 advantage. A little more than two minutes later, Eisinger's jumper made it 19-18, Wayland, but that was the last lead of the game for the home team, who went into the break trailing 35-32.
After TJ Jacobs hit a trey to make it a one-point ballgame with just under 16 minutes left, the Eagles outscored the Pioneers 16-6 to take a 60-49 lead with nine minutes on the clock.
OC was up by 15, 75-60, seven minutes later, but a 12-4 Wayland run that featured a dunk by Watkins and three-pointers by Williams and Marquis Green cut it to seven with 41 seconds. The Eagles hit their free throws down the stretch, however, to hold on to the victory.
Curtis and Jacobs also hit the double digit mark in scoring with 12 and 10 points respectively. Eisinger also had a team high four assists.
Johnny Terra, Rodrigo Silva and Chad Turner also saw action for the last time as members of the Pioneers. Terra got six points and four rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time. Silva pulled down a pair of rebounds and Turner took the final shot of the season, a three-pointer that just missed.
The Eagles outshot the Pioneers, 56 percent to 39 percent, and dominated in the paint, 40-22, but the rebounds were even at 35 each, although WBU had the advantage on the offensive boards, 16-8. Watkins and Curtis combined for seven of those 16 rebounds in the offensive zone.
The Pioneers wrap up Garnett's first season as head coach with an 11-19 mark. They were 5-17 in conference action. The Eagles finished the regular season at 17-12 and 11-11, and are the SAC's seventh seed going into next week's tournament.
