Box Score
New season, same exciting Pioneer basketball.
The Wayland Baptist men's basketball team came out guns blazing in their home debut on Thursday night in Hutcherson Center, recording a 117-70 victory over Northern New Mexico College.
"It was a great team win," coach
Ty Harrelson said of his Pioneers (2-1). "I thought my guys came out very focused and they were obviously excited about the first home game. They wanted to show the fans what brand of basketball that we can play."
The brand of basketball became apparent in the opening moments of the game when newcomer
Louis Timms set the tone with a dead-ball block against the Eagles (2-2) that riled up his team and the eager home crowd.
"He's a force," Harrelson said of Timms, who finished with a game-high three blocks (the team recorded eight stuffs) and leads the NAIA in total blocks after three games with 13. "Right from the start, he made it hard for Northern New Mexico to finish around the basket. He's one of those ultimate team guys."
The Pioneers' intensity and team play led to huge runs and a 64-31 halftime lead. WBU freshman
Russell Harrison led the Pioneers in scoring at the half with 17 and was 3-of-4 from the great beyond. He finished with 23.
"Russell has been good in every game that we've played so far," Harrelson said. "He's really shooting the ball well."
The second half was much of the same for the Pioneers, which led to all 13 players tallying some minutes and all but one scoring a basket.
"We have a lot of good players," Harrelson said. "It's really hard to find them all some playing time."
The Pioneers ended with seven in double figures – Harrison (23),
Marshall Nelson (17),
Ruben Lopez (16),
Maurice Redmond (11), Timms (11),
Joshua Throns (11) and
Julian Pesava (11) – and as a team Wayland shot a whopping 65 percent (19-of-29) from the three-point line. Harrison was 5-of-6 and Lopez 4-of-4 to lead the way. Lopez also contributed a team-best six of Wayland's 24 assists.
"They all came out and they all contributed," Harrelson said. "We tell them whether they play 40 minutes or 40 seconds to give it all they've got. The best part about it is they support each other."
Wayland shot 58 percent overall from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles, 45-33.
Wayland and Northern New Mexico will have a rematch Nov.16 in Espanola, N.M. Although the Pioneers had smooth sailing Thursday, Harrelson knows they Eagles will make adjustments before the next match.
"They're going to come out ready to play next Wednesday and it's on their home court," he said. "While we played pretty good today, we need to come prepared to play every game. There's no exception to that."
