Box Score FORT WORTH –
Royal Crouch scored 21 points and
Robert Waters came close to a triple-double as No. 21 Wayland Baptist knocked off Texas Wesleyan in a Sooner Athletic Conference game Thursday night in Sid Richardson Center, 80-69.
"To get a road win there is a big deal," Wayland coach
Matt Garnett said.
Wayland (18-4, 7-4 SAC) trailed by eight, 27-19, but went on a 19-6 run to end the half and begin to assume control. The Pioneers led by as many as 18 points, 71-53 with just under five minutes left in the game before the Rams (14-8, 3-8) rallied to make it interesting.
Wesleyan outscored Wayland 15-3 to pull to within 74-68 with two minutes to play.
"Everything went their direction," Garnett said. "When they got it to six, I called timeout and reminded our guys that what we do is good enough. We needed to trust what we were doing and not let anything affect our confidence and mentality.
"I thought we came out of that huddle and the guys really made big plays that put it away. They handled it and didn't let it overwhelm them."
In the last two minutes, the Pioneers gave up only one more point the rest of the game.
"At that point in the game you have to get stops. We had to get back to making them miss and getting the first rebound," Garnett said.
Wayland's offense, meanwhile, turned into hitting clutch free throws by Crouch,
Bunja Yaboe and
Kendall Durant. Yaboe also came up with a couple of big blocks down the stretch.
Along with Crouch's 21 points and eight rebounds, Waters ended with 13 points, a career-high 10 boards and eight assists for his third double-double of the season.
"Royal didn't have a good rhythm early, but he settled down and really went to work and did good things," Garnett said. "That's a sign of a mature player, to come out like that and quickly adjust."
Of Waters, the coach said his point guard was "very active and had his hand in a lot of lays. In this conference if you can be more physical 15 feet and in, that's usually who controls the ballgame. There were many stretches tonight where we did a good job, and Robert was pivotal in that area."
Yaboe added 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and
Ta'Quan McDew tacked on 11 points.
Wesleyan, which put up a much stronger effort than when Wayland won 105-68 in Plainview on Jan. 8 when the Rams were ranked No. 12, were led by junior forward Merv Lindsey's 22 points and 10 rebounds.
"Texas Wesleyan came out playing really good basketball. Their record does not do them justice," Garnett said. "I thought our guys stayed calm and stayed poised and started to settle in to what we wanted to do offensively and defensively. The guys didn't get antsy and kept taking it one possession at a time."
The Pioneers shot 50 percent (27-of-54) from the field, including 7-of-19 (37 percent) from 3-point range. Wayland hit 19-of-30 (63 percent) from the free-throw line. The Rams shot 35 percent (25-of-71) from the floor, including 23 percent (6-of-26) from long range. TWU was 13-of-20 (65 percent) at the stripe.
Wayland is back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday in Waxahachie against No. 25 Southwestern Assemblies of God (17-6, 7-4), which edged Southwestern Christian on Thursday, 64-62. The Pioneers had little trouble with the Lions when they played Jan. 10 in Plainview, winning 95-72. SAGU, however, has won seven of eight since then.
Garnett said the Pioneers must continue to get better.
"We're excited about (Thursday's win), but more importantly the last 10 days this team has gotten very focused on improving every day, and we've remembered that that is the formula. It's about getting better on a daily basis, and we have things we're going to have to do better on Saturday.
"SAGU is playing as well as anyone in this conference. We have a huge challenge and one we're excited about preparing for.
"It will be a knock-down, drag-out."
