Box Score
After avenging a loss Thursday night, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers immediately turned their attention to vindicating another setback Saturday afternoon. And with this much on the line, it's no wonder the Pioneers afforded themselves so little time for celebration.
"We were very excited to find a way to win that game, but after taking a deep breath in that locker room the guys started talking about what we have to do to be ready Saturday," Wayland Baptist coach
Matt Garnett said after the Pioneers pulled out an 89-85 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma ahead of Saturday afternoon's final regular-season game against Texas Wesleyan.
Bunja Yaboe's career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds boosted Wayland (20-9, 11-8 SAC), which after trailing by as many as nine points in the first half outscored the Drovers (13-14, 10-10) following intermission, 53-44.
"It was good to get that one," Garnett said. "The guys showed some maturity tonight. It was a back-and-forth battle, so it was good to find a way to win that game."
Juhreece Thompson added 16 points and
Royal Crouch 15 for WBU, while
Markus Monroe and
Barry Johnson tacked on 11 and 10, respectively.
Garnett said Pioneer big men Yaboe and Thompson combining for 35 points proved instrumental in the victory.
"They played well on the low block. That was good to see," the coach said. "I thought the story of the night was not one guy playing exceptionally well, but the team collectively finding a way to get enough baskets and string together enough stops."
USAO got 21 points apiece from Tyler Reynolds and Shavon Scott.
The Pioneers were down by eight, 48-40, just over two minutes into the second half, but then outscored the Drovers, 27-10, over the next eight minutes to assume a nine-point lead, 67-58.
"There was a turning point in the second half when were strung together some defensive stops and also stayed very aggressive offensively," Garnett said. "Even though we weren't in great rhythm offensively, we kept getting to the free throw line."
Wayland hit 78 percent (25-of-32) of its foul shots.
"That gives you a chance in a game like that," Garnett said.
After the Pioneers' took the lead, USAO cut it to four points on numerous occasions, but a pair of 3-pointers by
Plamen Hristov – his only points of the game – within a two-minute span kept the Drovers at arm's length.
USAO trimmed it to three with 12 seconds left, but Johnson hit a free throw with nine ticks to go to make it a two-possession game and seal the win.
Wayland's victory avenged an 82-81 overtime loss to the Drovers when the teams played in Chickasha.
After shooting just 29 percent (10-of-34) from the field in the first half, the Pioneers hit 59 percent (20-of-34) in the second. They finished 4-of-16 (25 percent) from 3-point range.
Both teams had 38 rebounds, and tThe Pioneers had just eight turnovers, half as many as USAO. Wayland ended with 14 assists, including eight from
Travis Payton.
Garnett said the Pioneers limiting turnovers, their free throw efficiency and getting 13 offensive rebounds were key factors.
"In a game where we never really got things going in a great direction, that became the formula for success," he said.
Wayland wraps up the regular-season by hosting Texas Wesleyan (15-14, 8-11) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Pioneers fell to the Rams when they met in Fort Worth, 75-71. Texas Wesleyan lost to USAO on Tuesday, 94-82.
Garnett called Texas Wesleyan "the most explosive team in the conference. They really have some talented players. It's going to take our best defensive effort on Saturday. Our focus will be on putting our best defensive effort together."
The SAC Tournament will be played March 5-8 at Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee. Based on the regular-season standings, the top five teams in the 11-team field earn first-round byes, and it appears the Pioneers can still finish anywhere from second to sixth.
"That's a testament to our league," Garnett said of the closeness of the standings. "We're looking forward to a good game on Saturday."
