Box Score Matt Garnett found out a lot about his basketball team Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, and the Wayland Baptist coach likes what he discovered.
"You find out so much about your team when adversity hits. After the disappointing loss Thursday (to Oklahoma Baptist), you really find out what their investment is, not only in the team but in each other," Garnett said. "All we talked about coming into (Saturday's game) was playing for the guy next to you, and today I felt the guys did that. They stepped up and made big plays."
Kendall Durant scored 14 points to lead four Wayland players in double figures, and the No. 14 Pioneers used a late run to pull off a 77-69 victory over Sooner Athletic Conference champion and 12
th-ranked Mid-America Christian.
"We beat a very good team. MACU is a deserving champion," Garnett said. "I'm proud of our guys for competing against them the way they did."
The Pioneers (24-5, 13-5 SAC), who trailed almost the entire first 38 minutes of the game, took just their second lead of the game, 54-51, on a 3-pointer by Durant midway through the second half. Wayland didn't give up the lead again, although it took some work to hold on to it.
WBU went up by eight, 62-54, but the Evangels (21-9, 14-4) – who clinched the SAC championship on Thursday when they beat Texas Wesleyan and Wayland lost to Oklahoma Baptist – wouldn't quit fighting. MACU narrowed the gap to 66-64 with 6:21 left in the game, but that's as close as the Pioneers let them get.
Wayland outscored MACU 11-2 over the next six minutes to seal the victory. The run started with a 3-point play by
Morris Mitchell and also included a slam by
Bunja Yaboe – whose ferocious slam earlier in the game knocked the goal out of place and delayed the game several minutes while it was fixed.
Durant got the assist on Yaboe's dunk as well as on a layup to
Royal Crouch that ended the win-clinching run and gave Wayland an 11-point lead. A 3-pointer by MACU with 19 seconds left took the final margin to eight points.
"Morris, one of our seniors, was so instrumental in that stretch in the second half," Garnett said.
Besides Durant's 14, Wayland also got double-digit scoring from Yaboe and Crouch with a dozen apiece and from
Robert Waters with 11. Mitchell added nine points.
"Royal really gutted one out today," Garnett said, alluding to the fact that Crouch did not play in Thursday's game due to a hip injury that still was affecting him Saturday.
Yaboe and Crouch shared top-rebound honors with eight each, and Yaboe had three blocks.
"Bunja played with great activity today. He accepted the challenge to play extremely hard," Garnett said. "And I thought
Jordon Johnson (7 pts., 4 rebs., 2 steals and 2 assists after 16 pts. and 8 rebs., Thursday) played great this weekend."
The Pioneers shot 54 percent (30-of-56) from the field, knocking down 6-of-17 from 3-point range. MACU drilled 13 3s, but it took the Evangels 37 attempts (35 percent). Jerrick Massenburge hit five treys and led MACU with 17 points, followed by Semar Farris with 16 and Brock Hunter with 12.
MACU finished with a 43-39 rebounding edge, but that wasn't bad considering the Pioneers were getting hammered on the boards in the first half, 29-15, including giving up 17 offensive rebounds.
"The first half they got 17 offensive rebounds. Credit to MACU for doing that, but we made a decision at halftime if we didn't get those guys off the boards there would be no way for us to beat them," Garnett said. "We limited them to four offensive rebounds in the second half, and we out-rebounded them pretty well in the second half. That was the key. Just like they did in the first half, we got to every 50-50 ball in the second half."
Before the game, six Pioneers – Durant, Crouch, Mitchell,
Ta'Quan McDew,
Plamen Hristov and
Jacob Lancaster – were honored on Senior Day. That was meaningful to Garnett, as was the support the Pioneers received from the fans, especially the students.
"I was not only proud to be a coach today, but I was proud to be an alum," he said. "I thought we had a great crowd, and I'm so appreciative of how they cheered for our guys."
With Saturday's win, Wayland pulled a half-game in front of No. 23 Oklahoma City University (16-7, 12-5) for the No. 2 seed in next week's 10-team SAC Tournament, to be hosted by the Stars beginning Wednesday. OCU's game against John Brown was among three conference contests postponed from Saturday until Monday, so the Pioneers' won't know their seed – either second or third – or their first opponent in the conference tournament until Monday evening.
"We're excited that we have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to prep," Garnett said. "We put such a value on getting better every day, and I think it gives us one more opportunity to fine tune some things.
"It's going to be a great tournament. There won't be a result in that tournament that surprises anyone because there is such quality depth in our league, one through 10. It's going to be such a competitive environment.
"The team that can go in there and really defend and rebound and show a lot of not only mental toughness, but courage, will survive and advance. We're looking forward to getting ready to play in such a quality tournament."
Â
