Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City went on 13-1 run late in the first half, and despite a furious rally by Wayland Baptist, the 18
th-ranked Stars managed to hang on for a 107-99 Sooner Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon in Abe Lemons Arena.
Wayland (8-3, 1-1 SAC) rallied from a 23-point deficit to within six, but by then only seven seconds remained and the Pioneers' fate was sealed.
"I'm proud of our guys. They fought back and made a game of it," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said. "We scored 66 points in the second half, which is how I was expecting us to score (throughout the game.) But you can't do that when some things aren't going your way."
Wayland was up when the Stars scored six straight points to take the lead for good. It was an eight-point difference, 32-24, when OCU tallied 13 of the next 14 points over the next 1:45 to assume command, 45-25, with two minutes left in the first half.
Harrelson was ejected from the game midway through the first.
"I thought (assistant coach)
Landon Hughey and (graduate assistant coach) Josh Weir did a great job of coaching the game andgave us a great opportunity to win," Harrelson said.
The Stars stretched the lead to 62-39 early in the second half, and the Pioneers appeared to be out of it, still trailing by 14, 97-83, with 1:21 to go. But
Josh Throns hit a couple of 3-pointers and
Ruben Lopez nailed another as part of an 11-4 run that pulled Wayland to within 101-94 with 47 seconds to go.
"From being down where we were, that's where you want to be," Harrelson said.
The Pioneers could have made it a two-possession game at that point, but an intentionally-missed free throw didn't work as planned and OCU got the ball. The Stars then got it done at the free-throw line, hitting 5-of-6 foul shots down the stretch to finish off the Pioneers.
Throns paced Wayland with 25 points, including seven 3-pointers, while
Maurice Redmond added 20.
Julian Pesava tacked on 15 points,
Louis Timms 14 and Lopez 10.
"We got some great individual performances," Harrelson said. "Josh shot the ball really well, and Ruben came in the second half and played really well. Mo also played a great second half."
The Stars got 27 points apiece from junior all-conference guard Terence Bonhomme and 6-foot-9 senior center Xavier Smith as OCU also had five players reach double figures. Smith finished with a double-double with 11 rebounds.
"It's always our goal to keep their best two scorers down and make someone else beat us, but we weren't able to do that today, so give them credit," Harrelson said.
Timms and Pesava had seven boards apiece for the Pioneers, who were outdone on the boards, 41-32.
OCU shot 55 percent (36-of-65) from the field, just above its average of 54 that ranks fourth in the NAIA, compared to Wayland's 45 percent (30-of-67), which included 14-of-31 3-pointers (45 percent). The Pioneers made 25-of-30 free throws (83 percent) while the Stars hit 71 percent (29-of-41).
Harrelson said OCU is a tough opponent.
"They won (Thursday) at John Brown, which is never easy to do," he said. "Their coach does a really good job with them. I think they scored 54 points in the paint, which not a lot of teams have been able to do that against us."
The 107 points are the most given up by Wayland since losing to USAO, 110-98, last February in Chickasha, Okla.
Wayland now takes a month-long break from conference play. The Pioneers next host Sul Ross State at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4 in what is being billed as "Pack the Hutch" Day.
"Our guys are looking forward to another home game," Harrelson said. "Hopefully all of the students and local community will come out and watch us play and pack the Hutch. Even though we lost today, I feel like we play a good grand of basketball and have beaten some of the top (NCAA) Division II teams."
