Box Score
Barry Johnson scored 24 points and
Markus Monroe 22 to lead five players in double figures as the hot-shooting Wayland Baptist Pioneers defeated Northwood University in Sooner Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 112-84.
The Pioneers (14-5, 5-4 SAC), who improved to 11-0 at home this season, jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, thanks in part to a 3-pointer from Monroe to start the game followed by a jumper from
Royal Crouch and back-to-back 3s from
Plamen Hristov.
Wayland continued its tear throughout the first half and was in command by halftime, leading 53-32.
Northwood (4-11, 3-7) came out of the break on a mission, however, and tested the Pioneers to start the second half.
The Knights scored the first six points after the break, all off WBU turnovers, to cut the score to 53-38 just one minute into the half.
Seeing that his starters were struggling, WBU head coach
Matt Garnett called on his bench to turn the tide.
"When they made their run to start the second half, our bench helped us regain control," Garnett said. "Then Royal made two huge shots for us. His value has never been tied to his points, but those two shots were really big for us there.
"Barry and Juhreece (Thompson) also gave us a great lift off the bench. They came in and changed the pace for us. And then Sasha...I just can't say enough about what he did defensively today. There's not a category in the box score that shows what he does for us."
After Crouch's back-to-back 3-pointers, WBU regained its hefty lead as well as control over the game. The Pioneers led by more than 20 points for all but five minutes and 20 seconds in the second half, and Wayland went on to win it by 28 points.
It was the sixth time the Pioneers have scored at least 100 points this season. Saturday's total was five points shy of the team's season-high set in a 117-54 season-opening win over Barclay College.
Wayland shot 57 percent (38-of-67) from the field, including 64 percent (16-of-25) from 3-point range. The Pioneers finished 20-of-26 (77 percent) from the free-throw line.
In addition to Wayland shooting lights out, the Pioneers found success through their defense.
"Coach (Ray) Wilkerson has done a great job with his team, and we had to really work to do different things to try and slow them down, especially Everrett Pleasant," Garnett said. "He's a very talented player and is very athletic and strong. You have to guard him with your entire team."
Pleasant led the Knights with a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but was well off his average of 20 1/2 points and 11 1/2 rebounds per game.
The Pioneers entered the week after a tough three-game stretch in which they lost all three games on the heels of being ranked for the first time six years. Garnett said his Pioneers responded the only way they know how -- with resiliency.
"I'm proud of our week," Garnett beamed. "We came off a short week, but our guys regrouped and came back to find a way to get a big win against (No. 1) SAGU on Thursday and then another win against a tough Northwood team. It was a great response to last week and is a testament to our resiliency as a team.
"Now we're excited because we get a few days of practice, which gives us a chance to try and shore some things up while we're getting ready for St. Greg's."
One of the things that Garnett will have his team focused on next week is rebounding.
"Moving forward we're going to focus on daily improvement, and one improvement we need to make is rebounding," he said. "We have to rebound the ball better. I thought we were slow to 50/50 balls and just gave up way too many second shots on good defensive possessions. When you guard well, you have to finish the possession, and we have to get better at that this week."
The Pioneers get two more home games next week, taking on No. 17 St. Gregory's (15-3, 6-3) at 8 p.m. Thursday then hosting John Brown University (12-6, 2-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Wayland dropped a high-scoring 102-99 decision to St. Greg's on Jan. 20 in Shawnee, Okla., while it will be the first meeting of the season with John Brown.
