Box Score BETHANY, Okla. – After suffering a disappointing, 83-62, loss to Oklahoma City in its first taste of Sooner Athletic Conference competition on Thursday, the Wayland Baptist men's basketball team got right back on the horse to pick up an 85-75 win over the second best three-point shooting team in the country on Saturday.
Wayland (10-2, 1-1) jumped out to an early lead after a basket from
Markus Monroe, a free throw from
Sasha Ovcharenko and a traditional three-point play by
Kelly Lawson gave the Pioneers a 6-2 advantage. Adam Dirlbeck had a quick answer for Southwestern Christian (5-4, 1-1), however, as he knocked down the first of 13 three-pointers for the Eagles to cut the lead to a single point.
The Pioneers and Eagles traded baskets over the next few minutes, but WBU maintained its lead despite several threats from Southwestern Christian. Midway through the first half, however, Southwestern Christian saw its hard work pay off after a 10-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer from Tyler Turner, giving the Eagles a 26-24 advantage, their first lead of the game.
WBU senior
Juhreece Thompson laid the ball in to even the score up on the Pioneers' next possession, the first of three ties for the remainder of the first half. Wayland and Southwestern Christian would change leads six more times before the Pioneers headed into the break with a 48-45 lead.
The Pioneers went on an early 6-2 run to start the second half, but the Eagles refused to surrender. Southwestern Christian pulled within a point after Tyler Inman made back-to-back free throws, bringing the score to 56-55.
Travis Payton made a three-pointer on WBU's next possession, followed by a layup from
Royal Crouch after a SWC turnover to give the Pioneers some breathing room with 14:24 left to play.
Crouch put in another layup before
Plamen Hristov made a jumper in the paint to give Wayland its largest lead of the game, 65-55, with 11:53 on the clock.
Not to be outdone, the Eagles came soaring back, knocking down three unanswered triples to cut the lead to 65-64. The
Pioneers would not see a lead larger than five over the next six minutes until Payton knocked down a free throw to give WBU a 77-69 lead with 3:47 to go.
Bunja Yaboe, seeing significant minutes in the Pioneers' last few competitions, made a layup with just under two minutes to play to give Wayland a ten point advantage, but Austin Turner quickly made a three to cut down the lead, 79-72.
Forced to send the Pioneers to the charity line, the Eagles fouled Monroe, who made one of two, before Robert Rozim knocked down three, breathing life into the Eagles.
The Pioneers would tighten up their defense, however, and would not surrender a basket for the remaining 56 seconds, winning their first SAC contest of the year, 85-75.
The Pioneers' head coach,
Matt Garnett, was pleased with his team's adjustment after Thursday's loss.
"We had a lot more intensity and focus tonight," he said. "Our guys really gave it up yesterday to get ready to play today. They did a good job of being ready to go."
Monroe led the Pioneers with a double-double, putting in 22 points while hauling in 12 rebounds, both game-highs. Payton also put in a solid performance for the Pioneers with 14 points and six assists.
Barry Johnson and Ovcharenko were also in double digits, scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The Eagles, who are second in the nation with 11.25 three-pointers per game, knocked down 13 threes, but shot just 33% from beyond the arch, thanks in large part to the Pioneer defense.
"Southwestern can shoot it from so many different positions and they make you play hard, focus and disciplined on the defensive
end," Garnett said. "We were very active on defense tonight and played with a lot of energy.
"Royal was also big for us on defense today. He contributes in a lot of ways that don't really show up in the box score, but he does a lot of little things very well."
Garnett was also quick to praise his senior point guard, Payton.
"Travis did a really good job today of being aggressive and running our team, which involved a little more scoring today, but that's what makes him such a good player. He can hurt you in a lot of ways."
Wayland will take on Oklahoma Baptist (6-5, 0-1) at 8 p.m. on Thursday in Hutcherson Center for its first home conference game of the season. Garnett says that his squad is excited about the big matchup on Thursday night.
"OBU has a very talented roster, as they always do," Garnett said of the Bison. "They were ranked second in the NAIA pre-season poll and they're going to be a really good team and be a challenge for us.
"It's exciting to have a big challenge ahead of you and a big game in your gym. We're going to get better starting on Monday, and I know that our guys will be excited about that challenge and getting better."
