Box Score
Pioneer Basketball vs Rogers State Gallery
The Wayland Baptist Pioneers got off some damaging early shots, but Rogers State fired the fatal blows late in the game as the 18
th-ranked Hillcats came from behind to post a 69-61 victory in Sooner Athletic Conference action Thursday night at Hutcherson Center.
“In the last 10-12 minutes of the game, I thought their intensity, their physicality and their toughness went up a notch,” Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said of the Hillcats, who outscored Wayland 40-28 in the second half. “They had some talented players really make a push, and we didn't handle that moment very well.”
The Pioneers (12-8 overall, 3-4 SAC) jumped out to an 18-7 lead, but Rogers State (16-5, 4-3) slowly worked its way back in it. The Hillcats cut it to two just before halftime, but Wayland managed to take a 33-29 lead into the break.
Like they did to start the game, the Pioneers made a strong push to kick off the second half. A 3-pointer by
Reggie Fondren put Wayland up by seven, 45-38, with just over 15 minutes to play.
That's when the Hillcats stepped up their play.
Over the next 14 minutes, Rogers State outscored Wayland 22-6 until just a minute remained in the game. The result was a 60-51 Hillcats advantage.
“It comes down to toughness and execution, and they did a better job than we did late when it came down to that,” Garnett said. “That's something that I'm responsible for. I have to get them better prepared to handle the physicality of the game.”
The Pioneers forced Rogers State to secure the win at the free-throw line, and the Hillcats were more than up to the challenge as they made 11-of-14 charity shots in the closing 60 seconds. Rogers State made 16-of-20 (80 percent) free throws for the game, compared to Wayland's 11-of-18 (61 percent.)
“When you're playing a really good team like Rogers, when they start to make those pushes at you, we have to be able to pull together,” Garnett said. “There has to be complete trust in what we're trying to get done each possession.”
Wayland was led by
Eric Milam's 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Tanner Hazelbaker and Fondren added 11 points each and
Theo Hatcher tacked on 10.
Travis Payton ended with eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Fondren also ended with nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.
“I thought we competed hard, and I thought our guys were ready to play,” Garnett said. “They played very hard and I'm very proud of their effort. I think we just have to be able to figure out where our breakdowns were.”
Rogers State, sporting six NCAA Division I transfers, got 16 points from Donald Williams and 14 each from Ken Holdman and Justynn Hammond. Alex Ewings added a dozen.
Both teams shot 37 percent from the field, with Rogers State hitting one more 3-pointer (seven) than Wayland (six). The Pioneers had 15 turnovers compared to just eight for the Hillcats.
“The key for us offensively is to work harder without a ball in our hand than with a ball,” Garnett said. “We have to take a real good look at whether we did that late in our execution.”
Wayland returns to the floor at 3 p.m. Saturday to take on fourth-ranked and SAC leader John Brown University (18-3, 7-0), which on Thursday won its seventh straight game over Lubbock Christian, 72-71.
“The key is to bounce back. We better not dwell on (this loss) too long. We have the No. 4 team in the country coming in here,” Garnett said. “I told the guys not to lick their wounds tonight, but instead let's figure out how to come out and play well Saturday. This group has shown resiliency all season, and they'll have to do it again.
“I have to do a better job of getting them ready to play,” Garnett added. “We have to stay the course.”
