Box Score CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Wayland Baptist Pioneers couldn't ride the momentum created by the Flying Queens' upset win as the WBU men fell to Rogers State University in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon, 74-59.
“We never developed any rhythm offensively,” Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said. “We did a good job defending, and because of that were able to stay fairly close. But we were never able to knock the big shot down that put some pressure on them and change the momentum of the game.”
The Hillcats (19-9, 7-7 SAC) took charge from the start, scoring the first seven points of the game. Rogers State went on to take an 18-6 lead, and the Pioneers (14-13, 5-9) never got closer than 10 points after that.
Wayland trailed 30-18 at halftime after shooting just 5-of-22 (23 percent) from the field, including 1-of-10 from 3-point range. The Pioneers were outrebounded 25-10 and were credited with just one assist in the first 20 minutes.
WBU fell behind by as many as 22 points, 46-24, before a late run – including a pair of 3-pointers by
Reggie Fondren – gave Wayland a glimmer of hope. Another 3 by
Chance Billups cut it to 11, 66-55, with 2:09 to go, but the Hillcats scored the next six points to put it away.
“We got some good looks, but we just weren't able to knock them down,” Garnett said.
Fondren led Wayland with 16 points, followed by
Travis Payton with 13 and
Eric Milam with 11. The Pioneers shot 18-of-49 (37 percent) from the field, including 5-of-22 (23 percent) from 3-point range, and hit 18-of-22 (82 percent) free throws. Fondren, Payton and
Juhreece Thompson each went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
“Our guys did some very good things, we just weren't able offensively to create enough rhythm and knock enough shots down,” Garnett said.
For the Hillcats, Robinson Odoch Opong, a junior guard from Quebec who joined the team six games ago, led the way with 19 points, including five 3s. Justynn Hammond added 13 points, Donald Williams 11 and J.C. Hartzler 10. RSU made 21-of-45 from the floor, including 9-of-22 three-pointers, and hit 22-of-25 fouls shots.
Wayland was outrebounded 40-19. The Pioneers turned it over 10 times, compared to 20 for RSU. Rogers State outscored Wayland's bench, 27-7.
“We shot free throws well and only turned the ball over 10 times, and we forced 20 turnovers,” Garnett said. Those are the things that we have to try to objective about. Those things give you an opportunity to have some success against good teams. We just have to shoot the ball better.”
Rogers State swept Wayland this season, winning 69-61 in the first half of SAC play when RSU was ranked No. 18. The Hillcats have since fallen out of the Top 25, but still are receiving votes.
The Pioneers play their final two regular-season games at home, against Lubbock Christian (14-11, 7-7) at 8 p.m. Tuesday then against USAO (13-8, 6-7) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Garnett said he's looking forward to playing two days sooner than normal.
“It'll be nice to get to turn around and play really quickly. Sometimes after a loss you just have to get that bad taste out of your mouth by playing again,” he said.
The bad news for the Pioneers is that the rival Chaparrals, who defeated Wayland in the SAC opener, 100-77, on Dec. 4, are playing solid basketball. LCU knocked off Rogers State on Thursday, 61-57, and almost did the same to No. 4 John Brown (24-4, 13-1) on the road on Saturday, losing 84-78 in double overtime.
