Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. – Things aren't always going to go your way, as the Wayland Baptist Pioneers discovered Friday night in the semifinals of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. When things don't go your way, good teams still find a way to win, and the Pioneers discovered that as well.
In what coach Matt Garnett called a "gutty" performance, the 22nd-ranked Pioneers got 30 points from
Markus Monroe for the second straight game and went on a late-game 13-2 run to secure an 83-77 victory over University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and move into the championship of the SAC Tournament.
"I was real pleased with our guys' determination," Garnett said. "Against John Brown (on Thursday), pretty much everything was clicking for us. Tonight was kind of the opposite of that, but they still found a way to win a game.
"This time of year that's what you have to do."
The Pioneers (23-9) now will have to do in Saturday's 7 p.m. championship what the Flying Queens couldn't in Friday's semifinals: beat host Oklahoma Baptist (18-15), which knocked off Mid-America Christian in the other semifinal, 92-88.
"It's going to be a huge test for us," Garnett said. "(OBU Coach Doug Tolin) has continually gotten that team better as the year's gone on. They have a group of seniors that is really playing good basketball."
The Pioneers split with the Bison during the regular season, first winning at home on Jan. 9, 81-68, before falling in Shawnee on Feb. 8, 88-67.
"We're very excited to get to play tomorrow," Garnett said. "It'll be a battle, for sure."
Saturday's winner will advance to the NAIA National Championships beginning March 19 in Kansas City, Mo. Even if Wayland loses, the Pioneers are likely to earn an at-large bid. No. 8-seed OBU, meanwhile, likely has to win to get to Kansas City.
The last time the Pioneers went to nationals was the 2007-08 season under head coach
Robert Davenport, now the athletics director at OBU.
On Friday night against the sixth-seeded Drovers (15-15), who knocked off No. 17 St. Gregory's in the quarterfinals, 78-74, Wayland trailed 71-70 with 3:49 left in the game. But the Pioneers scored 13 of the next 15 points, with Monroe providing seven of them. The last three came on a bomb from the top of the key as the shot clock was winding down, giving Wayland an 81-73 edge with just 33 seconds left.
"Markus really took it upon himself and did some great things," Garnett said. "He made two or three really big shots toward the end."
Monroe's clutch 3-pointer followed a timely steal by
Travis Payton and an alert timeout by Garnett to prevent a tied ball.
"We were sluggish at times, but the guys battled down the stretch," Garnett said. "They've thrown together some really good stuff."
Besides Monroe's 30,
Barry Johnson put in 18 for the Pioneers, including three of their seven 3-pointers, and Payton had a dozen points. Both Monroe and Payton had nine rebounds, while
Juhreece Thompson had eight. Payton also dished out seven assists, with his late-game steal the only takeaway for Wayland the entire game as USAO only made eight turnovers. Wayland committed 14.
"If you look at the stat sheet there were three or four guys who had big nights, and one common thread was they were all seniors," Garnett pointed out. "This game was not real smooth, it was a battle. But those seniors wanting to play another day were able to find a way to gut it out."
USAO was led by Tyler Reynolds' 26 points. Jahseth Lloyd added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Kennis White had 12 points.
The Pioneers ended with a 46-36 rebounding edge in the game that featured 12 lead changes. Wayland shot 53 percent from the field (32-of-61)
Wayland had split with USAO during the regular season, first losing in Chickasha, Okla., 82-81 in overtime, then winning on Feb. 27 in Plainview, 89-85.
