Box Score As seniors playing in their last home game, Saturday was going to be a special day for
Robert Waters,
Jordon Johnson and
Robert Lopez anyway. Their play – and a Wayland win over the No. 3 team in the country – made it even more so.
Waters drilled a 3-pointer seven seconds after the opening tip, then four more over the first seven minutes, and Wayland Baptist went on to knock off third-ranked Texas Wesleyan in Sooner Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 87-75.
"It was a great win," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said. "I thought our three seniors were fantastic today. They came out focused and ready to play, and to beat the No. 3 team in the country on Senior Day was really special."
Wayland went on a 15-3 run late in the first half to build a 19-point lead. The Rams – boasting five players 6-foot-8 or taller – made a run in the second period and pulled to within five, but the Pioneers – on the heels of Thursday night's thrilling 108-90 overtime victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University – stood their ground to record one of their most impressive victories of the season.
"I felt like we played a great game," Harrelson said. "We got stops defensively when we had to."
The win guaranteed Wayland (18-11, 10-8) a first-round bye in the 10-team SAC Tournament next week in Waxahachie. The Pioneers ended in a four-way tie for fourth place with Southwestern Christian, Science and Arts of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Assemblies of God. Based on head-to-head results between those four teams, Wayland will be the No. 5 seed and is projected to play No. 3 seed Oklahoma City University, ranked No. 25, in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Wayland and OCU split this season, with each team winning on its home court.
Official tournament pairings and game times will be announced Sunday.
Wayland will be looking to defend its tournament championship from a year ago and earn a spot back to the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City.
The way the Pioneers played this week, don't rule it out.
Against Texas Wesleyan (23-6, 14-4), which was coming off a 74-73 home loss on Thursday when No. 25 Oklahoma City scored on a putback at the buzzer, Wayland came out firing, especially Waters who made five of his first six 3-point tries – many from way beyond the arc.
"That was a little bit Steph Curry-ish," Harrelson said. "The kid's been great all season."
The NAIA's top 3-point shooter finished with 23 points – 19 in the first half – along with eight rebounds.
Waters was honored before the game along with fellow seniors Johnson and Lopez, and both of them turned in solid games, too. Johnson finished with 15 points before fouling out while Lopez put in a career-high dozen. Junior
Maurice Redmond also reached double figures with 10 points to go with eight rebounds.
The Pioneers made all eight of their 3-pointers in the first half; they only attempted three more after intermission. Meanwhile, Texas Wesleyan made just 4-of-24 long balls (17 percent) as the Rams scrambled to climb back in the game.
Texas Wesleyan got 14 points apiece from Jerell Ellis and BJ Batts and 10 from Dion Rogers and Sam Akano.
The much-taller Rams outrebounded Wayland, 49-38, with almost half of the Rams' boards coming on the offensive end. Chris Gracela grabbed 17 rebounds and Trevon Jeffery 10.
"That's the way Texas Wesleyan's been all year," Harrelson said. "They crashed the boards, and we were a little bit undersized. But I thought we did a good job switching up our defenses. (Assistant) Coach (Landon) Hughey did a good job with our scouting report and being able to tell the guys what was fixing to happen before it did."
Wayland also had six more turnovers, 21-15, than Wesleyan.
But none of that mattered as the Pioneers overcame it with superior shooting. Wayland ended an efficient 53 percent (25-of-47), compared to Wesleyan's 31 percent (23-of-75). The Pioneers also enjoyed another solid performance at the free-throw line, hitting 29-of-37 (78 percent), with Waters and freshman
Jordan Tolbert both going 6-for-6.
Wayland was in control at the half, up 55-38.
"
Ruben Lopez gave us a couple of strong minutes when we went on that run. He got us in a couple of offenses that allowed us to get an open shot," Harrelson said. "I also thought
Marquous Barnes came in during that time and did a good job."
But it didn't take the Rams long to get back in it after intermission, outscoring Wayland 12-1 to start and pulling to within 56-50. Not long after that Wesleyan was within five, 60-55, with 11:20 to play.
"Texas Wesleyan did a good job in the second half. They really came out focused," Harrelson said. "We were not scoring, but we didn't let that affect us defensively."
Wayland went on to score eight straight points – half of them by Redmond – to give the Pioneers some breathing room again.
After that, the Rams didn't get closer than nine points.
"We had some guys step up today. That's always important going to be important in the tournament," Harrelson said.
"Our seniors played exciting basketball all season long. We played well at home (12-3), and I hope our fans enjoyed watching us play.
"I hope it carries over into the conference tournament."
