Box Score Ty Harrelson isn't ready to spot the opposing team 20 points before the opening tip, but the thought may have at least crossed his mind.
"I tell the guys to play like you're down by 20, because usually when we're down like that we get pretty excited to play," the Wayland Baptist coach said.
Harrelson's Pioneers got plenty excited late in Thursday's game against Bacone College and blew open a close contest in the final minutes for a 120-93 Sooner Athletic Conference victory.
A season-high seven players scored in double figures as Wayland (13-9, 5-6 SAC) notched a season-best scoring total, along with a season-high 29 assists.
Robert Waters led the way for the Pioneers with 18 points, followed by
Jordan Tolbert who finished one rebound shy of a triple-double: 17 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds
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Jordan Tolbert did a really good job the whole night," Harrelson said. "It was one of the best all-around performances I've seen from any player on our team, and I think by far his best game of the year."
Anietie Jack added 16 points,
Jordon Johnson 15,
Maurice Redmond 13 and
Marshall Nelson 12. Redmond also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and first since the last time these teams met in Muskogee, Okla., way back on Dec. 5.
"Mo did a good job," Harrelson said. "He's playing good basketball."
When these teams met more than two months ago, the Pioneers defeated Bacone, 114-69, but on Thursday the Warriors (2-20, 1-10) gave Wayland a run for its money. WBU was up by just one point, 62-61, with 13½ minutes left and by just eight, 80-72, with 7½ minutes to go.
But the Pioneers went on a scoring rampage after that and won with ease.
"I think we started getting excited to play, and guys started feeding off of each other," Harrelson said.
Shortly after a technical foul on Wayland's bench at the 8:36 mark, Bacone had a chance to cut the deficit to five points. The Warriors missed a 3-pointer while on the next possession Waters nailed one for Wayland.
"We needed a little bit of emotion. I felt like the team and the gym were a bit flat," Harrelson said. "We weren't playing bad, but our guys needed to get excited."
The teams traded buckets the next two possessions until the Pioneers began to pick up the pace and ultimately pull away.
Harrelson credited brothers Robert and
Ruben Lopez for providing a spark. Also giving a lift was a powerful fast-break slam by Jack with just under two minutes to play.
"AJ played a real good stretch during that time. Most of his 16 points came then, and he made some great passes," Harrelson said.
The slam fired up the fans, especially the Wayland student section.
"It was nice that our student body got behind us," Harrelson said. "When they get excited I think it really helps our team, so I appreciate their support."
It was Wayland's most points since the 2007-08 season when the Pioneers downed Barclay College, 121-38.
Wayland shot 47 percent from 3-point range (15-of-32), with seven players making at least one trey. Nelson nailed the most, going 4-of-8. Overall from the field WBU was 53 percent (42-of-79) while hitting 21-of-31 free throws (66 percent). Redmond and Waters combined to go 9-for-9 from the stripe.
Bacone put six players in double figures with Geo Brewer and Jordan Menzies-Taylor getting 16 each. Menzies-Taylor pulled down 12 rebounds. The Warriors shot 41 percent (30-of-73) from the field, including 9-of-26 (35 percent) from beyond the arc. They hit 24-of-30 free throws (80 percent).
 Wayland held a 49-42 rebounding edge and turned it over 18 times, five fewer than the Warriors.
The Pioneers return to the floor at 3 p.m. Saturday against John Brown (11-12, 4-7), a 61-59 loser at home to Southwestern Christian on Thursday. Wayland defeated the Golden Eagles in Arkansas in the conference opener on Dec. 3, 78-76.
"John Brown is a very important game, so we hope the community will come out for that game as well," Harrelson said.
(NOTE: Close to $500 was raised for the American Cancer Society during Wayland's Coaches vs. Cancer and Suits & Sneakers initiatives. Fans donated money to ACS in lieu of admission…Harrelson said his mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor, "so doing this was special"…Â
