Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Thursday night's Sooner Athletic Conference opener was a thriller for the No. 12 Wayland Baptist Pioneers as they held on to a 78-76 victory over John Brown after a last-second heave by the Golden Eagles came up short.
The Golden Eagles (5-5, 0-1 SAC) led the Pioneers (7-1, 0-1) early on in the game and even stretched the lead to 13, 38-25, late in the first half.
"Worst half all year," Coach Ty Harrelson said. "We just couldn't put the ball in the basket. We didn't move the ball very well."
The Pioneers stormed back in the second half, taking a 67-61 lead thanks to consecutive 3-pointers from senior Robert Waters.
"Rob took over the game. He's an all-conference player and he showed why," Harrelson said.
The lead was 69-64 before the Golden Eagles went on a 7-0 run with big buckets behind guard Luke Moyer to pull ahead 71-69. Moyer finished with a game-high 29 points.
Junior Cody Thomas ended Wayland's drought with a free throw to pull the Pioneers within one, but missed the second. After Golden Eagle Jake Caudle went 1-of-2 from the line, Thomas made up for missed free-throw with an and-one bucket at the rim to give the Pioneers a one-point cushion.
Following the bucket, Golden Eagle Ricky Roberts scored on a drive to the rim and fouled out Thomas with a little over a minute left to play.
Fortunately for the Pioneers, Roberts missed the free throw.
Two big steals, one by Johnson and another by Maurice Redmond, led to four points from the the free-throw line coming from Johnson after the first steal and Roberts from the second to push the Pioneers lead to three.
Moyer was fouled on the next possession and made the last two points for the Golden Eagles to bring them within one. Freshman Jordan Tolbert went to the line with three seconds left. Tolbert missed the first and converted on the second.
The Golden Eagles had one last shot to steal the game away. A long cross-court pass was tipped out-of-bounds by Johnson which allowed the Eagles to advance the ball up the court.
Golden Eagle Brady Griffin took a turnaround jump shot from the wing and it came up short to seal the win for Wayland.
The Pioneers were boosted by the play of senior guards Waters and Johnson. Waters scored a team-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Johnson finished with 13 points and was a rebound short of a double-double. Maurice Redmond Also scored 11 points and snagged six rebounds.
"Our guys kept their composure," Harrelson said.
Next for the Pioneers will be a trip to Oklahoma Saturday to face Bacone College (1-6) at 3 p.m. The Warriors lost a game Thursday night to the No. 24 Southwestern Assemblies of God (7-2), 62-44.
