Box Score In what was expected to be an early-season knock-down, drag-out between two Sooner Athletic Conference Top 25 teams, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers did all the knocking and dragging on Thursday night in Hutcherson Center.
No. 15 Wayland scored the first 16 points of the game to set the tone for a 37-point blowout of No. 12 Texas Wesleyan as the hot-shooting Pioneers handed the Rams their first loss of the season, 105-68.
"It's a great win over a quality opponent," WBU coach
Matt Garnett said. "I thought our guys prepared very well this week and were ready to play."
Wayland's preparation showed right away as the Pioneers (13-1, 2-1 SAC), continuing their hottest start in program history, roared to a 16-0 lead as Wesleyan (12-1, 2-1) missed its first eight field goals. While Wayland was knocking down shots from all over the court – including back-to-back 3-pointers by
Robert Waters – the Rams went the first 5:15 without scoring.
Wesleyan finally got on track and cut what had been a 16-point deficit to just five, 36-31. But the Pioneers ended the first half the same way they started it, rattling off nine answered points – a 3 by
Plamen Hristov then six straight points by
Royal Crouch – to assume a comfortable 45-31 intermission lead.
Wayland stayed hot to start the second half, scoring the first four points. The Rams managed a free throw and a field goal, but the Pioneers kept pouring it on and finished off a 22-3 run that overlapped from the first half to assume a staggering 58-34 lead.
"Momentum is a funny thing. We put two back-to-back runs together to close the first half and open the second half, and all of a sudden the game is blown open," Garnett said. Including the big push to start the game, "we really played well in those three areas."
The closest Wesleyan got after that was 18 points as Wayland kept its foot on the gas, going up by as many as 39 points.
Senior transfer
Ta'Quan McDew scored a season-high 24 points, six more than his previous best, to lead all scorers. McDew hit 5-of-9 from 3-point range as the Pioneers drilled 13-of-26 from long range.
Crouch followed with 22 points while Hristov got 19 and Waters 10.
"When you play really hard and you get 50-50 balls, it allows you to get out in transition," Garnett explained. "We moved the ball well (19 assists), and all those hustle plays fueled our offense. That was the formula for success, being willing to really defend and rebound, and that turned into good offense."
The Pioneers also dominated the boards, 55-39, with
Bunja Yaboe pulling down 12 rebounds.
Jacob Lancaster added 10, McDew and Crouch eight apiece, and Hristov seven.
 "The formula for playing well tonight was toughness on the glass," Garnett said. "We made a commitment on defense, and because of that we were able to really attack on the offensive end."
Wesleyan, which was led in scoring by Jerrell Ellis' 18 points, hit just 5-of-24 (21 percent) from 3-point distance and also struggled at the free-throw line where the Rams went 13-of-23 (57 percent.)
"It's great to win a very big game against a very good team. You have to appreciate every Sooner Athletic Conference win; they're all so difficult to get," Garnett said. "The most important thing is to really get in tune with why we were successful and try to carry that forward."
Next up for the Pioneers at 3 p.m. Saturday is No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God (10-4, 1-2), which fell Thursday on the road to preseason No. 6 St. Gregory's (6-5, 2-1), 67-64.
"We have to reset for SAGU. There's a reason they're the defending SAC champions and played for the national championship the year before that," Garnett said. "The culture of Coach (Johnny) Bostwick's program is so strong (that) even though they have some new faces, I know what they value is incredibly difficult to beat.
"It will be a dog fight on Saturday. It's a short turnaround and we're going to have to be really dialed in first thing (Friday) morning getting ready. It counts just the same as tonight. We're looking forward to going to work on the game plan."
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