Box Score
SHAWNEE, Okla. – The Wayland Baptist Pioneers found yet another impressive comeback inside of them, but ultimately couldn't find another win over St. Gregory's.
The Pioneers rallied from a 14-point deficit, but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as Wayland fell to St. Gregory's University in a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament play-in game here Wednesday night, 56-53.
“Our guys wanted to win, they prepared to win, but in the end we just weren't able to make enough plays,” Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said. “We couldn't quite pull it out.”
The eighth-seeded Pioneers end their season with a 14-16 record while the ninth-seeded Cavaliers, who snapped an 18-game losing skid with the win, improved to 7-20 and advanced to a quarterfinal game on Thursday against top-seeded and third-ranked John Brown University (25-5).
It was another close game between Wayland and St. Greg's. The Pioneers won the first two – the first time by two points and the second time by six in overtime – but the Cavaliers got the job done Thursday.
After rallying from a 36-22 deficit to take a 48-42 lead, Wayland scored just five points in the game's final 7:54 as the Cavaliers outscored the Pioneers 14-5. St. Greg's led 54-51 when WBU's
Juhreece Thompson scored to make it a one-point game with 45 seconds left.
With a five-second difference in the shot clock and game clock, St. Greg's Devonte Young was fouled and made two free throws with 17 seconds to go. After calling timeout with 5.7 seconds showing, the Pioneers got the ball to junior
Tanner Hazelbaker on an inbounds play. Hazelbaker got off a shot from the corner, but it bounced off the rim just before the final buzzer, denying Wayland another chance to win in overtime.
“We got a good look, but just weren't able to get it to go down for us,” Garnett said.
Eric Milam scored 17 points in his final game for Wayland, while
Reggie Fondren, another senior, added 10.
Garnett couldn't say enough about Milam, Fondren and the team's third senior,
Theo Hatcher.
“This was another testament to the type of seniors we have. They never quit tonight and they never quit all season. They're such great competitors,” the coach said. “We didn't have the kind of tangible success we wanted this year, but those guys did some great things. They won't be able to fully realize the difference they've made on this program until a few years down the road, but they made it mean something again to be a Pioneer.”
St. Greg's senior forward Fayzon Richey, after scoring 17 points in the first half, was held scoreless for the first 16 minutes of the second half and ended with 21. Garnett credited Fondren for holding Richey in check after intermission.
“He's a relentless competitor, and he showed that again,” Garnett said of Fondren.
Richey was the lone Cavalier in double figures.
The Pioneers led by as many as five in the first half, 11-6, at which point St. Greg's scored the next 11 points. The game-changing run was spurred by Richey, who got the spurt started with a steal and fast-break slam, followed immediately by a 3-pointer.
Richey went on to sink two more 3s and a 2 over the next three minutes, helping St. Greg's assume a 27-18 lead. The margin grew to as many as 14 points right before halftime when the Pioneers trimmed it to 12, 36-24.
“St. Greg's came out and played really well,” Garnett said. “Maybe one fault this team had is it cared so much, and because they wanted it so bad I think we came out a little tight.
“But, in typical fashion, we make the comeback.”
Down 38-28, the Pioneers notched 10 unanswered points, including a 3-point play by Hazelbacker, a 3-pointer by Fondren and a steal and back-to-back buckets by
Travis Payton.
“At some point you just have to tell yourself, 'Go do it,' and we finally did,” Garnett said. “We were a little guarded in the first half of the game, then we started getting some stops on defense. That's what got us going.”
Payton and Fondren combined to sink four free throws, then Fondren nailed a short fast-break jumper that gave Wayland a 48-42 lead with just under eight minutes to go. At that point, the Cavaliers had scored just six points in the second half's first 14 minutes.
Fayzon, held silent after his explosive first half, helped the Cavaliers get back on track, scoring on back-to-back possessions to give St. Greg's a 52-50 lead with 3½ minutes to go.
Wayland, limited to 3-of-18 3-pointers, couldn't get a fourth to fall in the closing seconds, and the Pioneers saw their season come to a sudden end.
“We weren't able to manufacture enough points down the stretch,” Garnett said.
WBU shot 32 percent (17-of-54) from the field while drilling 84 percent (16-of-19) from the free-throw line. St. Greg's made 52 percent (14-of-27) from the field in the first half, but was held to 18 percent (4-of-22) in the second half. Like WBU, the Cavaliers also hit just three 3s and were impressive (17-of-21) from the foul stripe.
The Pioneers held a commanding 44-28 rebounding edge, with Thompson pulling down a game-high nine rebounds, followed by Milam and Fondren with eight each.
Garnett obviously was disappointed in the game's outcome, but ultimately happy with the end result of the season.
“I'm real proud of them,” he said, “because they made it mean something to be a Pioneer again.”
