Box Score BETHANY, Okla. – Head coach
Matt Garnett knew that the Pioneers would have a target on their back after the success they experience last year, especially in the Sooner Athletic Conference. In both team's first conference game of the season, Southwestern Christian gave No. 21 Wayland Baptist all it could handle, but in the end the Pioneers came out on top, escaping with a 76-72 win.
"We were baptized by fire tonight and we saw just how good the league is going to be this year," Garnett said. "It's tough to win road games and even harder to win conference road games, but our guys just made gutsy plays tonight to give us a win."
It was all Eagles to start the game, as Southwestern Christian (3-4, 0-1) jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first five minutes, and led by as many as nine in the first half.
With three and a half minutes, the Pioneers (8-0, 1-0) finally hit their stride and went on an 11-0 run, capped off by a three-pointer by
Robert Waters that gave Wayland its first lead of the night with just over a minute left in the first half.
The Eagles cut the lead to a point, 34-33, but
Ta'Quan McDew made a jumper in the paint to give Wayland a three-point halftime lead.
"In the first half Southwestern was more physical than we were," Garnett said. "I have to give a lot of credit to Coach (Paul) Quinn. He had his guys ready to play and we had to absorb some punches early.
"Our run to end the half was huge. We were able to create a little momentum by getting a couple easy baskets in transition off defensive stops. We always talk about closing halves and our guys made a little push. It was big for us to go into halftime with a lead after getting beat up in the first half."
The Eagles weren't done throwing punches, but neither were the Pioneers.
In the second half, Wayland and SWC traded leads six times and the Eagles tied the score on three more occasions.
Royal Crouch opened up the scoring in the second half with a jumper, but Southwestern Christian tied the game up after two jumpers and a free throw, then pulling ahead, 41-38, after a three pointer from Austin Turner.
The Eagles held the lead for a mere two minutes until
Maurice Redmond knocked down back-to-back threes to give WBU a 46-44 lead with 14 minutes to play.
Wayland went up by as many as five points over the next 10 minutes, but every time the Pioneers looked like they might pull ahead, Southwestern Christian would answer with a big shot of its own.
With three minutes left, Vladimir Nemcok completed a three-point play to tie the game for the first time in over 10 minutes, 66-66.
McDew hit two free throws to give Wayland the lead on its next possession, but Timotis Kuckailis hit a three to give the Eagles their first lead in 10 minutes.
Not to be outdone, Crouch stepped up and hit a three of his own, giving Wayland the lead for good.
In Wayland's next possession, the Pioneers worked the ball into the paint to
Bunja Yaboe who knocked down a jumper, and after a couple missed three pointers from both schools, Southwestern Christian was forced to foul the Pioneers to stop the clock with 16 seconds.
Crouch put in two from the charity line and
Robert Waters sank a third to ice the game, 76-72.
Relieved after stealing a win on the road, Garnett said the Eagles will be a force to be reckoned with this year after going 2-18 and finishing at the bottom of the conference a year ago.
"I really believe Southwestern Christian is going to win some games in conference and be competitive every night," Garnett said. "Coach Quinn makes them incredibly hard to guard, and tonight it came down to us making big plays down the stretch. They made big shot after big shot, but our guys never lost course and we were able to answer with some big shots of our own."
Crouch led all scorers with 26 points and Waters added 11, but the Pioneer bench gave Wayland a huge boost Thursday, scoring 30 points. Redmond put in 11, McDew and
Morris Mitchell had nine apiece, and
Thiago Randazzo added two in the Pioneers' win.
"We have a lot of different combinations that can give us good minutes," Garnett said. "We had some of our very good players not play great tonight, but we had guys come in that are not only capable of playing, but they're extremely competitive."
After seeing what Southwestern Christian brought to the table Thursday, Garnett knows that Wayland will have to bring everything they have every night if the Pioneers want to repeat the success they experience last year.
"It's never been so true for us that we have to give a true, team effort every night," he said. "We're going to have to bring it every night and continue to improve and play better as the year goes on. We have to make sure that our most important quality is mental toughness, and they did that tonight."
As tough as the SAC is, there is no time to relax, and the Pioneers will have to have a quick turnaround when they face what Garnett thinks may be the most talented team in the conference on Saturday.
"We're quickly shifting to Oklahoma City on Saturday, and I think they arguably have the most talented team in the conference. We have to be great as a team against them and not make it an individual battle. We also have to value the ball and every possession and fight for 40 minutes to give ourselves a chance to be there at the end of the game."
The Pioneers take on Oklahoma City (3-3, 0-1) at 3 p.m. Saturday in Abe Lemons Arena.
