Box Score SHAWNEE, Okla. –
Royal Crouch threw in 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and
Ta'Quan McDew added 22 points to lead the red-hot, 15
th-ranked Wayland Baptist Pioneers to a hard-fought 95-85 victory over St. Gregory's in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon.
Clinging to a one-point lead after neither team led by more than six for the game's first 36 minutes, Wayland (23-4, 12-4 SAC) outscored the Cavaliers (12-12, 8-8) by a 14-2 count in the late stages to claim the victory, the seventh straight for the Pioneers.
In their final regular-season road contest, Wayland led 82-81 with four minutes to go when the Pioneers scored eight straight points, and after St. Greg's got a bucket, the Pioneers put in the next five to secure the win.
The victory avenged an 88-67 setback to the Cavaliers in Plainview in late January. St. Greg's made a dozen 3-pointers in that game, but it was Wayland that had the hot hand on Saturday, both from long range and at the free-throw line.
Of Wayland's final 13 points, Crouch accounted for nine of them, including a traditional 3-point play that made it 90-81 with 1:01 to go. Wayland drained 9-of-11 free throws in the final 4:48, with Crouch going a perfect 5-of-5.
Jordon Johnson also came up big in the late stages with a steal and a layup.
While Crouch and McDew combined for 50 points,
Plamen Hristov added 14. He hit 4-of-4 from 3-point range where McDew threw in 5-of-9, and the Pioneers were 12-of-22 (58 percent) from beyond the arc. Wayland was 33-of-61 (55 percent) overall from the field and made 17-of-25 (68 percent) at the foul stripe.
Wayland outrebounded the Cavaliers, 44-35.
St. Greg's was led offensively by Trey Jones with 22 and Marty Wilkerson with 20. The Cavs made 11-of-38 (29 percent) from three-point territory, where Wilkerson was 4-of-13.
Both teams led by as much as six in the first half, which ended with St. Greg's on top, 47-46.
WBU took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Hristov that made it 62-60 with 13-21 left, but the game was far from decided.
The Pioneers have two games left in the regular-season, both at home. The first is at 8 p.m. Thursday against Oklahoma Baptist (18-10, 7-9), which blew out Texas Wesleyan on Saturday in Shawnee, 92-66. The Bison were the last team to beat Wayland, 84-83 on Jan. 29.
Then on Saturday afternoon, the Pioneers wrap up the regular season by hosting No. 14 and league-leading Mid-America Christian (20-8, 13-3), which leads Wayland by a game in the SAC standings. The Evangels, who defeated Southwestern Christian on Saturday, 79-71, defeated Wayland on Jan. 15 in Oklahoma City, 83-64.
