Box Score WAXAHACHIE – For the first time in longer than
Ty Harrelson wants to remember, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers didn't have to come from 15-plus points behind when they faced No. 16 Southwestern Assemblies of God here Saturday afternoon.
And, for the first time after four losses, the Pioneers won.
The Lions missed a baseline layup in the final seconds, and Wayland hung on for a huge 76-75 road victory, putting the Pioneers right back in the thick of the Sooner Athletic Conference standings.
"Our guys did a good job coming out and throwing the first punch today instead of taking it," Harrelson said.
Maurice Redmond scored 17 points and
Jordon Johnson tallied 16 points and nine rebounds to lead Wayland (12-7, 4-4 SAC), which this week fell out of the NAIA Top 25 for the first time this season.
Jordan Tolbert added a dozen points and six assists while
Robert Waters finished with nine points and
Anietie Jack eight.
Wayland led 9-2 out of the gates then scored eight straight – featuring 3-pointers by Waters and Redmond – to assume a 20-10 edge.
"I had a meeting with a couple of players about (recent slow starts), and we talked about playing a little more aggressively at the start. That seemed to work. We forced 15 turnovers in the first half," Harrelson said. "We were able to come out early and get our hands on the ball. Getting those early steals really helped.
"We've been giving up too many points early in the game, and today we were able to get stops."
The Lions (14-6, 5-3) took their first lead, 32-30, at the 6:45 mark of the first half, and the lead changed hands several times before a bucket by
Marshall Nelson following a steal by Johnson put Wayland up at the half, 44-42.
"We executed our offense and got a couple of easy transition baskets," Harrelson said.
Like they did in the first half, Wayland started the second half very strong by scoring eight unanswered on buckets by
Cody Thomas, Tolbert and two by Johnson.
SAGU slowly climbed back in the game, tying it at 72 then taking a 75-74 lead on a 3-pointer by Jason Gentry with 2:17 to go.
Redmond immediately answered with a bucket to put the Pioneers back on top, and after an exchange of misses and turnovers, WBU had the ball and the same one-point lead with 41 seconds left.
When Waters couldn't get a 3-point try to go, the Lions rebounded and elected not to call timeout. With time winding down, they got the ball to Mitchell Remington along the baseline, but with four seconds left his shot at a tough angle underneath wouldn't go just before time expired.
Gentry led the Lions with 20 points, while Emmanuel Adoyi got 14 and Isaak Rowe 10. Wayland held point guard Rashaud Alexander to a season-low two points, 11 below his average.
"We tried to make him work for his points, and we were able to slow him down a little bit, although he still got 11 assists and nine rebounds," Harrelson said. "We put the ball in a couple of others guys' hands on their team.
"
Cody Thomas and Mo Redmond did a tremendous job defensively today."
The Pioneers won despite being outrebounded, 50-36, as the Lions grabbed 20 offensive boards, twice as many as Wayland. However, the Pioneers had twice as many steals, also 20-10, and just 14 turnovers compared to SAGU's 22.
WBU shot 43 percent (26-of-65) from the field, including 6-of-22 (27 percent) from long range, and hit 14-of-20 free throws (70 percent).
SAGU finished 28-of-69 (41 percent) from the field, 10-of-32 (31 percent) from long range, and 9-of-14 (64 percent) at the foul stripe.
Harrelson said the win, which snapped Wayland's longest losing skid since the end of the 2012-13 season, was important.
"We talk about winning all of our home games and trying to split on the road, so we were able to split this weekend," the coach said. "We lost or last three games by a combined 11 points, which shows you how close all of the teams in our conference actually are.
"It's not like we've been playing bad basketball. Other than the first couple of minutes of the game, we were playing really well. It's just getting down by 15 and having to fight back is tough.
"Our seniors and Mo are getting more experience at making plays down the stretch, and today we played with a better sense of urgency."
The Pioneers stay on the road next week, taking on teams just ahead and just behind them in the standings in Oklahoma City (8-6, 5-3) on Thursday night and Southwestern Christian (8-9, 4-4) on Saturday afternoon. The Stars won Saturday at USAO, 89-82, while Southwestern Christian, which defeated Wayland at home last week 64-61, fell just short at home against No. 9 Mid-America Christian, 72-69.
"We have another tough road trip," Harrelson said. "We just need to take it one game, one possession at a time."
