Pioneers face play-in game after loss to USAO

Box Score  
Hoping to avoid playing an extra game in the upcoming Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers instead dropped their final regular-season contest to Science & Arts of Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 81-73.

Wayland (14-15, 5-11 SAC) led 32-29 at halftime, but the Drovers (16-8, 9-7) outscored the Pioneers, 52-41, in the second half to take an eight-point win back to Chickasha, Okla.

"Today we looked a little worn down (and) mentally fatigued, and that affected some of our execution and some of our energy," Wayland coach Matt Garnett said.

The good news is the Pioneers have a new slate ahead of them as the SAC Tournament approaches. To be played at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Wayland is the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 seed St. Gregory's (6-19, 0-15 prior to a Saturday night contest) in a play-in game at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The winner will enter the regular bracket and take on top-seeded John Brown University (25-4, 14-1), ranked No. 3, in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

A complete bracket will be announced Sunday.

"Everyone has a new life," Garnett said. "You play all these games to get a seed. Now it's a matter of who plays the best in, for us, a four-day stretch.

"I want the guys to let the highs and lows of the regular season go and get excited about the opportunity to go play for a championship next week."

Against USAO, a former Top 25 team, the Pioneers led by three at intermission after outscoring the Drovers 7-0 to end the first half, capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Tanner Hazelbaker. But USAO came out of the locker room on fire and outscored the Pioneers 17-2.

"USAO started the second half with a lot of energy, and I don't think we seized the opportunity to start the second half as well as we finished the first," Garnett said.

After trailing by 12, Wayland pulled to within four points four times in the game's final 9½ minutes, but the Drovers didn't let the Pioneers any closer.

WBU's final push came after Juhreece Thompson nailed a 3-pointer, making it 67-63 with just under four minutes to play. USAO's Jahseth Lloyd then converted a three-point play, and Brandon Cutler got free for a slam to give the Drovers a 72-63 lead. A fast-break lay-up by Wayland's Nikola Grbic cut the margin to six, 79-73, with 16 seconds remaining, but USAO's Dejuan Lofton sank two free throws to put the game out of reach.

"We were able to keep grinding away and be a possession away from maybe being able to turn the game around, but we weren't able to make those plays and USAO made some big shots to stop those runs," Garnett said.

Hazelbaker hit six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 24 points for Wayland, while Eric Milam turned in a double-double with 23 points (one off his season-best turned in Tuesday) and 11 rebounds. For USAO, Zacharias Lewis scored 15 points, Norris Rumph and Cutler added 14 each and Lofton got 11.

"USAO is so physical at the guard spots. They shoot the ball well and have very active big guys inside," Garnett said. "They're a very talented team."

Final stats were very close with Wayland shooting 38 percent (26-of-69) from the field and hitting 10-of-25 from 3-point range. The Drovers shot 41 percent (26-of-63) from the floor and made 10-of-29 three-pointers. USAO held an eight-point edge in free throws, making 19-of-24 compared to Wayland's 11-of-15. The Drovers ended with 43 rebounds and just eight turnovers, while the Wayland had 42 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Now, the Pioneers will look to turn things around at the SAC Tournament.

"I think or guys care so much that sometimes they put the weight of things on themselves and they feel like they're running uphill," Garnett said. "We have to make sure we let all the highs and lows of this schedule we've had to play, which is as difficult as anyone's in the country, just let it go and be the best version of ourselves we can be next week."

The coach is looking for a very competitive matchup against St. Greg's, a team Wayland edged twice in the regular season, 72-70 and 85-79 in overtime.

"They're one of those teams that I believe is much better than their record," he said. "This will be as good of a play-in game as anybody could imagine. This is a big test for us and one I hope our guys are very excited about playing for on Monday."

NOTE: Wayland's three seniors – Milam, Theo Hatcher and Reggie Fondren – were recognized before the game. Said Garnett: "I'm really proud of our three seniors. I think they've done an exceptional job of representing our program – on and off the court. All three are scheduled to graduate either this spring or this summer. One thing you know you're going to get from this team, and it's directly tied to these three guys, is they're going to play very hard every night."