Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – Up by 16 points early in the second half, Wayland Baptist's spotless record didn't appear to be in jeopardy. But Oklahoma City staged a furious rally in the closing minutes to pull out a 93-89 victory and hand the No. 21 Pioneers their first loss of the season here Saturday afternoon.
"OCU had some kids make some big shots, and we struggled on the defensive end," said Wayland coach
Matt Garnett, whose team won its first eight games. "We knew going in just how explosive they were and how talented they are. We knew it was going to take a possession-by-possession mentality that relied on both effort and execution."
Ahead 51-39 at halftime in the Sooner Athletic Conference contest at Abe Lemons Arena, the Pioneers (8-1, 1-1 SAC) scored the first four points of the second half to assume a 55-39 edge. Wayland was up 57-43 when the Stars (4-3, 1-1), ranked the equivalent of 30
th and coming off a 92-90 loss at unbeaten Texas Wesleyan, suddenly came to life, scoring 11 unanswered points over a two-minute span to cut the Pioneers' lead to just three.
WBU was able to build the cushion back up to 14, 73-59, with 10 minutes left, and it was a 10-point game with eight minutes to go when the Stars scored 10 straight to tie it at 77 with 5:44 showing.
A 3-pointer by Dorion Gigger with 4:42 left gave OCU its first lead of the game, 80-79.
The Stars went on to take an 88-81 lead with 1:11 showing, concluding a game-changing 21-4 run when Wayland was done in by turnovers and lackluster defense.
The Pioneers pulled to within two after hitting series of free throws, but OCU got a layup, and after Wayland leading-scorer
Robert Waters missed a 3-pointer, the Stars' Tharone Chilton hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to make it 92-86.
Royal Crouch halved the deficit for Wayland with a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, but Chilton made 1-of-2 foul shots two seconds later to ice it.
"I think that this team has been very willing to grow defensively, and when we have an identity defensively and we stand for something defensively, we're a very good team," Garnett said. "There were several really good performances by our guys, but we can't give up 93 points. That blame falls squarely on my shoulders. We have to live up to our own expectations on the defensive end every night, and when we don't that's my fault.
"I will do a better job of making sure that occurs."
Waters, who hit 5-of-8 3-pointers, paced Wayland with 21 points, followed by Crouch with 19 and Hristov and
Bunja Yaboe with 13 each. Yaboe added nine rebounds.
OCU was led by Chilton's 21 points. R.J. McGhee tacked on 16, Gary Inglett 15 and Jamil Donovan 15 each, and Gigger 11.
Wayland outrebounded the Stars 37-30 but was hurt by 20 turnovers, eight more than OCU. Both teams shot just over 50 percent from the field (WBU 34-of-64, OCU 34-of-67) and 44 percent from 3-point range (WBU 11-of-25, OCU 12-of-27), with the Stars holding a slight edge in free throws (WBU 10-of-16, OCU 13-of-18).
WBU sprinted to an 11-2 lead, then increased that to 22-8 on the strength of hot 3-point shooting by Waters, Hristof and
Ta'Quan McDew. OCU trimmed it to five, but Wayland lengthened the margin back to 12 by halftime, 51-39.
"Our guys were really ready to play," Garnett said. "I thought we put together a very good offensive first half and an above-average defensive first half. Sometimes when you make shots you can forget about the defensive end. I have to make sure we do a better job of understanding the value of defense.
"We have great film to watch now with a wonderful opportunity to get better."
The Pioneers take a break from SAC play, next hosting Northern New Mexico at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 and Ecclesia on Dec. 17. After road games against Dallas Christian, Utah State and McMurry, WBU returns home to resume its conference schedule Jan. 8 against Texas Wesleyan.
"We have a pocket of time to get better," Garnett said, adding that he'll use the time to focus more intently on defense.
"Everybody in the league can score, and that's our challenge: To what level will we be able to develop our defense. I'm excited to get back in the gym as finals draw to a close and work on that end.
"I'm real proud of this team," the coach added. "They are team-first guys, and we talk about not reacting any differently to wins and losses and just look at what we need to do to get better. I believe they will accept that challenge.
"They've shown this year on multiple occasions that they can be a great defensive team, and I believe we will get back there."
