Box Score Offense outshined defense on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center where Wayland Baptist – the top-scoring offense in the Sooner Athletic Conference and fourth-best in the NAIA – outperformed one of the league's top defenses in John Brown University, winning 97-65.
"I thought we were really focused. We got excited about playing defense," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said. "There's no doubt when you come out and shoot the ball as well as we did that you're going to play well, but the important thing is we were able to get defensive stops."
Wayland, which beat JBU by just two points after trailing by as many as 13 when the teams met in Arkansas Dec. 3, came out smoking and stayed hot most of the game as the Pioneers rolled to a second straight convincing win. Riding the hot hand of
Marshall Nelson, who finished with 22 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting, Wayland (14-9, 6-6 SAC) owned a 28-8 lead after the first 10 minutes and never let up against the Golden Eagles (11-13, 4-8).
"We moved the ball really well on offense. That's been a focus for us. When the ball doesn't move we don't shoot quite as well," Harrelson said.
The Pioneers, who drilled Bacone on Thursday night with a season-high point total, 120-93, went up by as many as 26 in the first half and as many as 38 in the second.
Nelson came off the bench and hit five of his 3s in the first half and had 19 before intermission on his way to matching a season-high in scoring.
"Marshall was really focused," Harrelson said of the first-year Pioneer from Australia. "He had some family here today, so I was glad he was able to perform well in front of them."
Anietie Jack also came off the bench for 14 points, matching
Robert Waters.
Maurice Redmond and
Jordon Johnson had 11 each.
"Rob also shot the ball well today. When they (Waters and Nelson) are both on it's tough on opponents," Harrelson said. "AJ Jack was efficient again for his minutes played. I thought he did really well.
"And I'm happy with the way
Ruben Lopez performed this week."
After knocking down a season-best 15 treys Thursday, Wayland went 13-of-29 (45 percent) against the Golden Eagles. The Pioneers attempted only four free throws, all in the second half, but owned a substantial edge in fast-break points, 20-4.
JBU had only two players in double figures, Griffin Brady with 13 and Josh Bowling with 12. The Golden Eagles shot just 33 percent (21-of-63) from the floor, including 9-of-31 (29 percent) from long range. They made 14-of-20 free throws.
"This was one of our better defensive games," Harrelson said. "We have a goal on defense to hold teams under a certain number of points, and we were able to do it today. I thought our guys did a good job of ball pressure and anticipating passes. We were able to get some traps and got our hands on a lot of passes."
Wayland dominated the boards, 48-37, led by Jack with seven.
Jordan Tolbert ended with six assists to lead the Pioneers, who had 21 total. WBU committed 13 turnovers, six fewer than JBU.
Wayland remains home for its next two games, against No. 25 Oklahoma City (10-7, 7-4) at 8 p.m. Thursday then No. 12 Mid-America Christian (18-5, 8-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Both of those teams played later Saturday. The Pioneers will be looking to avenge road losses in the first half of SAC play, 70-67 to OCU and 95-85 to MACU.
"We've got to take everything one game at a time. I know it's a cliché but it's the truth," Harrelson said. "I might have had our guys looking too far ahead too early. We can't be thinking about who we play on Saturday, our seed in the conference tournament, or if we're going to make the national tournament. We have to take it one game, one play, one practice at a time and try to get better at what we do."
