Box Score DALLAS – No doubt
Royal Crouch is excited about how his senior season is going for the Wayland Baptist Pioneers. Crouch is the leading scorer on a team that is ranked 16
th in the nation and that on Friday night secured the best start in school history with a convincing 97-69 victory over Dallas Christian.
However, Crouch's excitement will pale in comparison to the joy he'll feel when his wife, Nicolle, gives birth to the couple's first baby in the coming days.
For now, though, Crouch is pretty pumped about helping Wayland (11-1) to a record-setting win in which he scored 21 points and the Pioneers hit 32-of-37 free throws in rolling over Dallas Christian for the second time this season.
"It was a fast-paced game," Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said. "They trapped a lot, and we had to work on staying in attack mode while keeping our poise. That was a challenge at times. When we started to go south in that area we had some subs and depth that helped us settle down. Our bench tonight was very key."
The record-setting win – in which the Pioneers realized their best start ever after 12 games – was hardly ever in doubt. WBU led 20-17 before starting to break away from the Crusaders (4-12).
"We got into some foul trouble in the first half with Kendall (Durant) and Robert (Waters), and
Cameron Coleman came in and played some very good minutes. He gave us up some help at the guard spot," Garnett said.
The Pioneers led 50-35 at halftime and outscored Dallas Christian 7-0 over the first five minutes of the second half en route to the 28-point victory.
"They cut it to about 16 in second half, so we subbed a couple of guys in and were able to find a rhythm, make a few plays and get (the lead) back out there," Garnett said.
It marked Wayland's second straight 28-point win (WBU beat Ecclesia College, 89-61, on Wednesday after an 85-61 win over Northern New Mexico on Tuesday) and the Pioneers' second lopsided victory of the season over Dallas Christian, having won in Plainview on Nov. 25, 110-71.
"I'm pleased with this week," Garnett said. "It's always a challenging week because the guys are done with the academic semester and are looking forward to getting home to spend some time with family. But they found a way to stay focused, and we got better this week, which is a good sign moving forward. We need to keep that mentality the entire second semester…just daily improvement."
In addition to Crouch – who hit 13-of-14 free throws – other Pioneers scoring in double figures were Waters with 16 points,
Ta'Quan McDew with 14,
Plamen Hristov with 11 and Durant with 10.
"Ta'Quan shot the ball very well," Garnett said of McDew, who hit 3-of-7 3-pointers and 5-of-5 free throws. "He keeps carrying over (to offense) how hard he's playing on defense."
Jacob Lancaster added eight points and had a game-high six rebounds and three blocks off the bench.
"Jacob played a very good game," Garnett said. "He's playing with a lot of intensity. He's running the floor really hard and his effort is starting to pay off. He's starting to see the value in how hard he is playing."
The Pioneers, in addition to shooting 87 percent from the foul line, shot 53 percent (29-of-55) from the field, including 33 percent (7-fo-21) from 3-point range.
Wayland struggled by turning over the ball 24 times, although the Crusaders wound up with 28.
Trent Dawson's 15 points paced four Dallas Christian players in double digits. DCC made just 2-of-16 (13 percent) from long range.
The Pioneers held a 37-22 rebounding edge, limiting the Crusaders to only six offensive rebounds after having struggled in that area earlier in the week.
Garnett dismissed the Pioneers in Dallas for Christmas break, and the Pioneers next play Dec. 27 against NCAA Division I Utah State (5-4) at 5:05 p.m. CST.
"We'll reconvene in Dallas on Christmas night and fly to Utah State on Dec. 26," Garnett said. "The guys will be excited to get to go play Utah State and excited to go play well."
