Box Score A big run late in the first half helped propel Oklahoma City to a 74-51 victory over the Wayland Baptist men on Thursday night.
The visiting Stars, who had a three point lead with 8:39 remaining in the opening period, outscored the Pioneers 16-2 over the next eight minutes to take control of the game.
The WBU men had trouble putting the ball in the hoop during the first 20 minutes, hitting just eight of their first 26 shots (30.8 percent), but it was a poor defensive effort that proved to be the real Achilles heel for Matt Garnett's squad against the Stars.
"For whatever reason, I didn't have the guys ready to compete defensively with focus or energy," said Wayland's first year head coach, "and that's something that has to be fixed."
The Pioneers were down by 14 --34-20 -- at the half and quickly found themselves in a 22-point hole five minutes into the second period.
The ball began falling through the bucket a little better on the WBU end of the court at that point, and TJ Jacobs' three-pointer at the 8:28 mark put the Pioneers within 13 at 56-43.
That was as close as the WBU men would get, however as the Stars scored eight of the next nine points to put the margin back over 20.
Jacobs hit three treys in the game, all in the second half, to lead Wayland in scoring with 13 points. Junior post Robert Curtis was the only other player in double figures for the Pioneers with 12. OCU's Troynell Adams led all scorers with 20 points, while his teammates, Orlan Jackman and Tim Morton both posted double-doubles – Jackman with 17 points and 13 boards and Morton with 14 and 12.
OCU (11-10, 8-9) hit five of its ten three-point attempts and finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field. The Stars made 18 points off 13 offensive rebounds, and had an overall 39-28 advantage on the boards. They also converted 15 Pioneer turnovers into 18 points.
The Pioneers (10-14, 4-12) went 5-of-14 from beyond the arch and ended up hitting 37 percent. They had just eight second chance points, and seven points off ten OCU turnovers.
Wayland will look to get back on the winning track Saturday afternoon with a 3:00 tipoff against Mid-America Christian University. MACU defeated Lubbock Christian 93-90 on Thursday evening in Lubbock.
