Box Score
SHAWNEE, Okla. – The Oklahoma Baptist Bison showed Saturday why they started the season as the No. 2 team in the nation.
"We ran into a buzz saw today," Wayland Baptist coach Matt Garnett said after his Pioneers fell to OBU in Sooner Athletic Conference play, 88-67. "Give OBU a lot of credit. They really played well."
Out to avenge an 81-68 loss to the Pioneers on Jan. 9 in Plainview, the Bison did just that. OBU (11-11, 6-7 SAC) surged to a 36-14 lead and never looked back against a Wayland team coming off an inspired 101-96 road win over No. 14 Mid-America Christian on Thursday.
"They shot the ball so well in the first half, and we struggled to guard them," Garnett said of the Bison, who in the opening 20 minutes hit 56 percent from the field (21-of-38), including 7-of-13 (54 percent) from 3-point range. "They were able to get out and get a double-digit lead. They had a couple of kids really step up and have a huge night."
The Bison led it 49-33 at halftime, and Wayland (16-7, 7-6 SAC) never got closer than 14 points in the second half.
"I thought we had a few occasions when we made a little push. We were hoping we would find a way to get it into single digits, but they had an answer at every turn," Garnett said.
Plamen Hristov led Wayland with 15 points, all of those coming on 3-pointers. Royal Crouch added 13 points and Markus Monroe 12. Juhreece Thompson and Barry Johnson added nine points each, with Thompson also pulling down a team-high eight rebounds.
OBU got 26 points from Cale Jackson, who nailed 5-of-10 3-pointers, and 22 from Tyler Davis. Kendall Parks added 16 points and nine assists, and Hayden Darst put in 11 points.
"I thought our guys really prepared well and were very focused. They were ready to play. We just ran into a team that was having a huge night," Garnett said. "I was proud of our guys because they continued to fight. It was just an uphill battle today."
The Bison hit 19-of-23 free throws, all in the second half. Wayland was 6-of-11 from the foul line.
Wayland ends a three-game, six-day road swing on Monday in Siloam Springs, Ark., where the Pioneers take on John Brown University (14-8, 4-8), which edged Wayland on Feb. 1 in Plainview, 67-66.
Garnett said the Pioneers won't spend much time talking about Saturday's loss.
"Because our guys did a very good job of getting ready to play and played hard, we don't need to dwell on it. We'll evaluate what we did right and what we did wrong and not get caught up in the win or the loss and just try to be a better team and move forward. We've got to really focus on what we're going to have to do to have success against John Brown and get really committed to doing that. It's all about John Brown now.
"We have to be really disciplined Monday night and do what we do as well as we possibly can offensively. It will be a big game. John Brown is playing their best basketball of the year right now. We have to go in there and be ready for a fight."
The Golden Eagles hosted Oklahoma City on Saturday night.
Wayland is back in the Hutch on Thursday to take on Southwestern Christian (6-14, 2-11) at 8 p.m. The Pioneers then host OCU (11-8, 7-5) at 3 p.m. Saturday.
