Box Score On the heels of some recent struggles at the free throw line, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers stepped up Thursday night in Hutcherson Center and knocked down a season-high 32 foul shots while missing just six en route to a thorough 86-76 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over No. 23 Oklahoma City University.
"The game was close in the final minutes, but our guys kept their composure. They moved the basketball and got open shots and stepped up to the line and made free throws," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
"I was proud of how our players played and finished the game."
Wayland senior Rob Waters was a perfect 13-of-13 at the foul stripe on his way to scoring a game-high 23 points. Other Pioneers also did their part, including
Marshall Nelson who was 5-of-5,
Anietie Jack who was 6-of-7 and scored 12 points, and freshman
Jordan Tolbert who was 5-of-7 and finished with a career-high 21 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds.
Maurice Redmond also reached double-digits with 11 points.
Harrelson said he hasn't called a lot of attention to his team's foul shooting, but admitted, "The guys have stuck around after practice and tried to put up a few extra."
The extra work paid off handsomely Thursday.
The Pioneers (15-9, 7-6 SAC), who attempted just four free throws in their previous outing but missed double-digit free throws in all three of their games prior to that, shot 84 percent from the line and outscored the Stars (11-8, 8-5) there by 18. OCU was 14-of-19 shooting free throws.
Wayland made 22 of its foul shots in the second half when the Pioneers held off an OCU charge.
After leading by as many as 16 points early in the second half, the Pioneers' lead was trimmed to just three after the Stars scored 10 straight points to make it 72-69 with just over four minutes to play.
"Vinay (OCU coach Vinay Patel) does a good job with them. They kept their composure when we went on a run," Harrelson said. "They also hit a couple of tough shots, especially Evan White (19 points), to get them back in the game."
But Wayland responded by going on an 8-2 run that featured a three-point play by Jack and a 3-pointer by Waters. OCU cut it to six on two occasions after that, but each time Waters made two free throws to keep the Stars at arm's length. Tolbert sank two foul shots with 12 seconds left for the final margin.
"Jordan has really stepped up his game in conference," Harrelson said.
The win was Wayland's third straight and avenged a 70-67 loss to the Stars in Oklahoma City during the first half of conference play.
"I feel like we're playing better as we go," Harrelson said. "Any time there's a coaching change there's a little bit of an adjustment period. We were really close in those five games we lost; unfortunately, they didn't go our way.
"Now we're playing a little bit better basketball as the season progresses and we're making a couple of plays we didn't make in crunch time earlier in the year. I give a lot of credit to our guys for staying with the process."
The Pioneers will look to avenge another loss on Saturday when they host No. 11 Mid-America Christian at 3 p.m. The second-place Evangels (20-5, 10-3) defeated Wayland at home on Jan. 9, 95-85, although the game was much closer than that with the Pioneers trailing by just three with three minutes to play.
Harrelson said MACU is a tough match-up for his club.
"They're athletic and big," he said. "We play a similar style, so the tempo should be fast."
MACU ran past USAO at home on Thursday, 94-79.
Â
