Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. – After lifting the Wayland Baptist Pioneers to victory on a last-second shot at St. Gregory's on Thursday,
Travis Payton did everything he could to pull out another miracle over Oklahoma Baptist here Saturday afternoon. Wayland came within three points with half a minute left in the game, but the Bison were able to hold off Wayland's late push, taking the 74-66 victory to remain undefeated in conference play.
OBU (14-2, 2-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) showed the Pioneers just why they are ranked No. 1 in the country, opening the game with three consecutive long bombs to take a 9-0 lead right off the bat. Buckets from
Reggie Fondren,
Tanner Hazelbaker and
Juhreece Thompson put Wayland (10-6, 1-2 SAC) right back in the mix, however, pulling them to within two (12-10) just a few minutes later. The teams traded shots back and forth for the rest of the half, with a couple more going OBU's way, giving the Bison a 10-point cushion at halftime, 37-27.
Head coach
Matt Garnett gave credit to OBU for their physical style of play, which got his team off balance to start the game.
“OBU plays with great physicality and I don't think we handled it well in the first half,” he said. “It's a credit to how they were playing.”
The Pioneers stuck with OBU through the first few minutes of the second half, but quickly went cold, going almost four and a half minutes without scoring. After the Bison took a commanding 23-point lead, Payton finally broke Wayland's drought with a three-point play at 10:24. Payton and Fondren sparked a comeback for the Pioneers, scoring the next 13 points to cut OBU's lead to just five.
“Early in the second, we tried to get back to the things we work on and play our style of ball,” Garnett said. “At one point they were up 20 points or so and Travis stepped up and made some big shots. Defensively we started to string together some stops and chipped away at their lead.
“We had chances to cut it even more, but OBU stepped up again. We almost reeled them back in. It was a very good game and both teams played hard.”
Wayland pulled within three points with 29 seconds remaining on a drive to the basket by Payton. The Pioneers were forced to foul, however, allowing the Bison to increase their lead from the charity stripe, and Wayland's shot attempts in the final half-minute fell short, giving OBU the eight-point victory.
Garnett said the fast, intense speed of the game, especially down the stretch, was a good experience for his team.
“We got some good looks, but missed too many chip shots in the lane and some layups too,” he said. “I tell the guys we have to prepare for games like this every day in practice. If we can keep that game mindset, we will start to make some of those shots. The guys have to understand that working that way every day is important.”
Payton's season-high 23 points came on eight field goals, including two 3-pointers, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. He pulled in four rebounds and dished out six assists. Fondren contributed 13 points, going 6-of-10 from the floor with one from long range. Thompson closed out the game with 10 points, including two treys and seven rebounds.
Theo Hatcher led the team with nine rebounds.
As a team, the Pioneers shot 26-of-57, including 6-of-16 from beyond the arc, and were 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. They out-rebounded the competition, pulling in 35.
The Bison had four players in double figures, including team leader Chase Adams with 18 and Kameron Price with 17. OBU's field goal percentage was almost identical to Wayland's, as they shot 26-of-58. The Bison were only 12-of-21 from the free-throw line, but gained an edge from beyond the arc, shooting 10-of-23.
The Pioneers have a chance to bounce back on Thursday as they host the second half of a conference double-header against Mid America Christian (5-5, 0-1 SAC) at 8 p.m.
Garnett said his team will put their noses back to the grindstone and get back to work, preparing for MACU's visit.
“The guys put in a really good effort and fought hard, but just weren't able to finish the comeback,” he said. “We have to have a short-term memory…we can't ride that rollercoaster of highs and lows because we've got to get ready for the next game. We'll take the positives and negatives from this road trip and try to keep on getting better every day.”
