Box Score On a night when
Robert Waters scored his milestone 1,000
th point, it was a couple of assists that might have been his greatest contribution in helping Wayland Baptist to a come-from-behind overtime win.
Waters made an across-the-court pass to
Maurice Redmond who drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner to force overtime, then Wayland dominated the extra period as the Pioneers posted a 108-90 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Thursday night in Hutcherson Center.
"I'm really happy. We've had so many close games. We've won a couple, we've lost a couple, so anytime you win 'em you're happy," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
After regulation ended tied at 81, the Pioneers (16-9, 8-6 SAC) outscored the Lions (18-11, 9-8) – who are ranked the equivalent of 30
th in the NAIA – 27-9 in overtime. Incredibly, Wayland did not miss a shot in the five-minute extra period, making 7-of-7 field goals – including three 3-pointers – and all 10 free throws.
"Our execution, our ball movement in overtime was spot on," Harrelson said.
 Wayland held a slim 90-87 lead before scoring 16 unanswered points to put it away.
Harrelson pointed to the momentum from Redmond's overtime-forcing 3-pointer for providing the big spark that allowed Wayland to dominate overtime.
"The momentum of getting the game into overtime definitely carried over," he said. "Isaac Rowe (SAGU's 6-foot-6 freshman) fouled out, I think, at the end of regulation, and I felt like him being out may have hurt them."
Wayland led by as many as 10 in the first half, 20-10, and trailed by as many as 11 in the second, 50-39. The Pioneers managed to tie it on a couple of occasions after that and even took a brief one-point lead, by WBU found itself trailing by four, 79-75, with 24 seconds left.
After
Jordon Johnson made a free throw, Redmond rebounded his missed second attempt which led to
Anietie Jack putting in a strong and-one bucket. With 10 seconds left, Jack missed a free throw that could have tied it.
After a quick foul, SAGU's Remington Mitchell drained a pair of free throws to make it a 3-point game with eight ticks to play. Wayland then called a timeout and got its best 3-point shooters on the floor.
One of those was Waters, who leads the NAIA in 3-point buckets and who earlier in the evening joined the Pioneers' 1,000-point club.
"The play was to put the ball in Rob Waters' hands," Harrelson said. "What makes Rob special is he wants the ball in that situation. He makes the right decision every time, even though not all of the shots have fallen. Today he saw the double-team and he made the extra pass, and Mo was ready to catch and shoot."
Redmond launched his shot from the corner in front of the Pioneers' bench.
After a driving layup by
Jordan Tolbert and a powerful dunk by Jack to start overtime, Waters was credited with another key assist, this time on a 3-point bucket by Tolbert.
"He made two great decisions there," Harrelson said of Waters.
A dunk by Redmond was answered with two free throws by SAGU, then it was all WBU.
Another 3 by Redmond got the ball rolling, then the Pioneers started a parade to the free throw line, including six straight by Tolbert followed by four in a row by Waters, including after a technical foul on frustrated SAGU coach Donnie Bostwick.
It was all over at that point, but
Marshall Nelson drilled a 3-pointer for good measure.
"I always feel like the first couple of possessions in overtime are important," said Harrelson, whose team lost its only other OT this season.
Waters and Redmond led six Pioneers in double figures with 20 points apiece. The freshman Tolbert added 17 points (13 in overtime), Jack 16, Johnson 15 and Nelson 14. Jack pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
"
Jordan Tolbert is really tough, and for AJ, a sophomore, to have a double-double. He also had some great defensive plays, contesting some shots in crunch time that we really needed to contest," Harrelson said.
Wayland had impressive shooting numbers across the board: 52 percent (35-of-67) from the field, 44 percent (12-of-27) from 3-point range, and 79 percent (26-of-33) from the free-throw line. Waters and Tolbert combined to go 19-for-19 at the foul stripe.
SAGU got 26 points from Keyunta Watkins, who was 8-of-15 from 3-point range where the Lions put up 43 attempts, making 17 (40 percent). Four other Lions reached double figures, including Remington Mitchell (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Adoyi (12 points, 12 rebounds).
Wayland, which is tied with SAGU and Southwestern Christian for fifth place in the league, ends the regular-season at 3 p.m. Saturday at home against third-ranked Texas Wesleyan (23-5, 14-3), which was knocked off at home by No. 25 Oklahoma City on Thursday, 74-73. Wayland fell to the Rams in the first half of league play, 86-84.
"Our league is really even, especially those 1-7 teams. Anyone can beat anyone," Harrelson said. "Wesleyan is probably the dominant team in the conference, but there's close games every night."
Harrelson hopes there's another close one in the Hutch Saturday afternoon.
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