The Sooner Athletic Conference prides itself on being the top basketball conference in the NAIA, and this year the Wayland Baptist men's basketball team looks to make a run at the coveted title. In order to claim their first SAC championship, head coach
Matt Garnett and the Pioneers will take the taxing schedule one game at a time.
"If you look at the schedule there's nine teams that are capable of winning the conference championship…so you can't circle big games or look at a game you think you should win because there aren't any games like that," Garnett said. "We just want to play really good basketball every night and not get caught up in the highs and lows of a difficult schedule or in a win or a loss, but be at our best for our next game.
The Pioneers have done an excellent job at bringing their best, game in and game out, putting together the best start in the program's 66-year history with a 12-1 record. Wayland went undefeated in its first eight games, picking up wins against St. Thomas-Houston, 60-58, West Texas A&M, 99-91, and McMurry, 91-61, along the way.
Wayland's first loss came at the hands of Oklahoma City, who was receiving votes at the time. The Stars edged the Pioneers, 93-89, on Dec. 6 to give WBU its only blemish.
"Our hope is always that our November to January, nonconference schedule helps prepare us for the SAC," Garnett said. "Our conference has a level of intensity that we really try to replicate in practice. We also hope that our guys understand how difficult it is to win in the conference and that you can win on any night if you play really well, but you won't win if you don't play really well."
One of the most valuable aspects to the Pioneers' preconference schedule was the tough road games that Wayland experienced. In addition to WBU's two-point win over St. Thomas-Houston to start the year off, the Pioneers own road wins against Sul Ross State (84-62), Southwestern Christian (76-72), Dallas Christian (97-69), and McMurry (92-79).
Wayland also played two exhibition matches against NCAA DI opponents, UT-Pan American and Utah State, on the road. UT-Pan American barely escaped with an 88-80 win over the Pioneers on Nov. 14, and Utah State had its hands full against Wayland on Dec. 27 before eventually pulling away with 75-63 win.
The Pioneers' solid play on the road has their coach excited about this year's possibilities.
"We always love to play at home, but one of the things that I like about this year's team is that the road doesn't change us," Garnett said. "I think you're only as good as your defense on the road, so our formula for winning at home and on the road doesn't change much which is a big advantage."
As their coach alluded, not much changes for the Pioneers on the road this year, whereas last year Wayland was just 4-9 when playing outside Hutcherson Center. WBU's only loss is on the road, but the Pioneers are beating opponents, whether in Plainview or elsewhere, by a whopping 24.5 points per game, the fifth-highest scoring differential in the country.
Wayland also ranks third in the NAIA in assists per game (19.08), third in field goal percentage (.542), seventh in rebound margin (10.25), seventh in scoring per game (89.33), and ninth in blocks per game (4.5).
Individually,
Royal Crouch leads the Pioneers in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game while
Robert Waters (15.6),
Kendall Durant (11.7) and
Ta'Quan McDew (10.9) are also averaging double figures for Wayland. Waters, who leads the team with 45 assists, is shooting 52-percent from three-point range which is third in the NAIA.
Bunja Yaboe leads the team in rebounds, averaging 6.1 per game, and blocks with 23. Yaboe is 10th in the country in blocks per game, averaging 1.92 per outing.
Although the Pioneers have played two conference games thus far, the bulk of their SAC schedule starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday when No. 12 Texas Wesleyan comes to town. At 12-0, the Rams will have to knock off their third ranked opponent to stay undefeated.
"I think that Texas Wesleyan could be the top-ranked team in the country," Garnett said. "They haven't been beaten this year, they're very talented and their coach has them playing at a high level right now. There's no question that we're going to have to play our best to compete with these guys and I think that's a great challenge. If you're a competitor you want the opportunity to play against a very good opponent and Texas Wesleyan is definitely that."
The buck won't stop after the Pioneers' bout with Texas Wesleyan, however, as WBU will turn around and face No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God at 3 p.m. on Saturday for another top-25 showdown.
The Lions (10-3) lost the 2014 SAC Player of the Year in Dominique Rambo, but Donnie Bostwick, last year's SAC Coach of the Year, has another talented group of players that are looking to defend their regular-season conference championship from a year ago.
"Texas Wesleyan is what we've focused on all year, but when that game is over we'll have a quick turn around and start focusing on a talented SAGU team," Garnett said. "We just want to get off to a good start. We talked all week that we have the one opportunity on Thursday to play a conference game with a chance to win and worry about Saturday when it gets here."
The Pioneers obvious goal entering conference play is to win a championship after coming so close in 2014. Playing for the tournament championship on its own court, Oklahoma Baptist pulled away from Wayland in the final minutes of the game to rob WBU of its first championship. This year the Pioneers hope to seal the deal and see their name at the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference, but the journey starts with Texas Wesleyan.
