Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – With the excitement of playing in its first Sooner Athletic Conference game and the potential for matching the best start in the program's history, the Wayland Baptist men's basketball team had just its second hiccup of the season, falling to Oklahoma City on Thursday night, 83-62.
Wayland (9-2, 0-1) and Oklahoma City (5-4, 4-1) traded baskets early before the Pioneers jumped out to a 7-4 lead. The Stars made two 3-pointers, however, one to tie the game at seven points apiece and the second to bring OCU within a point after the Pioneers made two straight baskets.
The Pioneers continued to inch in front of the Stars, but once again a clutch OCU 3-pointer cut the gap, tying the game at 15 with 11 minutes left in the half.
After Oklahoma City's Dorion Gigger made a layup after a steal with 10 minutes left in the half, Terence Walker hit a jumper a minute later to give OCU a 19-17 advantage, the Stars' first lead of the contest.
Oklahoma City continued its hot streak for the remainder of the half, completing a 24-11 run to give the Stars a 39-28 halftime lead.
Wayland looked to be reenergized after the break and got a dunk from its leading scorer,
Markus Monroe, to strike first in the second half. The Stars would not play victims to a second-half comeback, however, and dominated the remainder of the contest, outscoring the Pioneers, 44-34, in the second half to garner an 83-62 win.
WBU head coach
Matt Garnett was quick to praise the Stars on their performance.
"(Oklahoma City) did a great job of coming out with a game plan and were committed to that plan," he said. "A lot of credit goes to them because they were really ready to play and compete at a level that we weren't able to match tonight, and a lot of that goes on me."
Seeing his first action of the season, Oklahoma City's R.J. McGhee played a major role in the Stars' success, leading all scorers with 20 points. Four other Stars reached double figures as Terry Johnson and Jamaal Crayton scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Walker and Kaleb Smith added 10 points apiece.
Monroe led the Pioneers with 15 points, while
Bunja Yaboe recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pioneers, who are ranked fifth in the NAIA in field goal percentage (53 percent), shot just 32 percent from the field in seeing their five-game win streak end.
Despite a tough loss, Garnett feels his team will be quick to recover and be ready for their next game.
"We just have to be committed to what we do," Garnett explained. "We need to be willing to go as deep as we need to on both ends of the court and stay committed to what we've worked on for the past four months.
"When the going gets tough, you have to focus even more, and that's been our focus all year. I know our guys will respond well, but it will start with me.
"We don't want to deal with adversity when it comes our way, we want to embrace it and be ready to defeat it. That's our mentality and these guys have shown that they're capable of doing that all year. They did a fine job tonight, but this one's on me."
Wayland will look to return to the win column Saturday afternoon when the Pioneers take on Southwestern Christian (5-3, 1-0) at 3 p.m. in Bethany, Okla. The Eagles defeated Oklahoma City in both teams' SAC opener on Dec. 17, 82-79.
