Box Score
Men's Basketball vs John Brown Gallery
With John Brown University's Golden Eagles' knack for winning close games, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers found a way around it: don't let them get close.
The Pioneers raced to a 19-2 lead and went on to post one of their biggest wins in recent memory, getting a season-high 30 points from
Reggie Fondren and knocking off fourth-ranked John Brown on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 84-70.
“Our guys really came out with a strong mental toughness today,” Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said. “We knew what we had to do. We executed the way we wanted to, and we had some individuals step up and make big shots, make big plays. That's what it takes to beat a team as good as John Brown.”
As the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play came to a close, it was the first conference loss of the season for the Golden Eagles (18-4, 7-1 SAC), who have won five of their seven SAC games by five points or less.
“It's real big to knock off the top dogs,” Fondren said. “We're confident going into every game. Every game is a winnable game, it's a process of preparing.”
Playing a Top 25 team for the fourth straight outing and for the fifth time in six games, the Pioneers (13-8, 4-4) came out on fire in surging to their 19-2 lead in the first 6½ minutes of the game. Fondren,
Tanner Hazelbaker and
Robert Lopez all nailed three-pointers during the burst.
“We always talk about getting off to a quick start, and to do that you have to be really focused on both ends of the court,” Garnett said, adding that it was especially important to do that on defense against John Brown. “They have so many good shooters and do such a good job of playing together (that) you try to contest every shot and try to get every defensive rebound if they do miss.”
Wayland held a 43-32 halftime lead, and Garnett knew the Pioneers would have to fight for their lives in the second half.
“They're too good of a team and too well coached and too resilient to go away,” he said of the Golden Eagles. “We talked at halftime of making sure we stayed focused, energized and committed to each defensive possession. We really tried to live that way the second half…just stay focused in the moment. It takes that mentality to play against them because they just keep coming after you.”
The Golden Eagles did, in fact, make several runs at Wayland, but the Pioneers never blinked. Each time Wayland responded with clutch buckets.
When John Brown cut it to seven with just over nine minutes left in the game, Hazelbaker nailed a 3-pointer. Minutes later when the Golden Eagles closed the gap to five, Fondren drained one from long range.
John Brown's last run again got the visitors from Siloam Springs, Ark., to within five, 65-60, with 6:46 to go. But Wayland quickly scored the next seven points – including another 3-pointer by Fondren – to take it back out to a 12-point cushion. After a 3-pointer by John Brown cut it nine, the Pioneers scored four straight points – including a traditional 3-point play by
Travis Payton – and never allowed the Golden Eagles closer than 11 the rest of the way.
“I'm real proud of their effort,” Garnett said. “They came ready to play and found a way to win a big game.”
Fondren's 30 points marked a season-high, 13 more than his previous best. The 6-foot-3 senior guard from Memphis, Tenn., made all seven of his 3-point tries and finished 11-of-13 overall from the field. He was one rebound short of a double-double and also had a team-high five steals.
“I was feeding off my team,” Fondren said of his hot hand. “Eric (Milam) made a big shot, then Travis, and Travis was finding me.”
Garnett said Fondren “had a great night. Reggie is a competitor in the truest sense of the word. He did a really good job of making plays within our offense. That was the best part of his performance today. He competed hard within what we wanted him to do.”
Milam added 17 points and Hazelbaker got 12.
Theo Hatcher ended with nine points and eight rebounds.
Both teams hit a dozen three-pointers, with the Pioneers nailing 12-of-19 (63 percent) and the Golden Eagles 12-of-34 (35 percent). Wayland shot 53 percent (33-of-62) overall from the field.
“We were fortunate to shoot the 3-pointer really well,” Garnett said. “Offensively the ball was moving. We really focused on making sure we didn't stand around and watch each other play. That created rhythm, and we had guys step up and take and make good, rhythm jump shots.”
John Brown was led by three guards: Abel Galliguez with 18 points, Coleson Rakestraw with 17 and Kent High with 10. Max Hopfgartner, the Golden Eagles' 6-foot-9 player from Austria, had seven points and five rebounds while 6-10 Nate Anderson did not scratch in 14 minutes of play.
Although the Golden Eagles had a decided height advantage, Wayland held a 39-30 rebounding edge. Garnett also pointed to the Pioneers' 16 assists.
“There's a direct correlation between the way we shot the ball and the number of assists we had,” he said. “The ball was moving tonight. To have more assists than turnovers (15)…that was a good sign that we were trusting each other offensively.”
Added Fondren, “We've got to keep building as a team.”
Wayland next plays at 8 p.m. Thursday at Oklahoma City University. The Pioneers' next home game is Feb. 7 against No. 10 Oklahoma Baptist.
“It was great to taste victory and get a big win, and hopefully the guys like the way that feels and are willing to do the work it takes and put in the preparation to have another opportunity to do that,” Garnett said. “So much of it is learning to handle winning and handle losing. You have to stay focused on yourself and what you can do to get better as a team because everybody is so competitive and so equal in the conference.
“The team that can find a way to do that will have good success in the second half of conference.”
