Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Wayland Baptist held a two-point lead midway through the second half, but No. 1-ranked Georgetown, Ky., proved too tough down the stretch as the Pioneers fell to the Tigers in the first round of the 2016 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Basketball Championship on Wednesday night, 102-83.
"You have to give credit to Georgetown. They played like the No. 1 team in the country," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said of the Tigers coming up big in crunch time. "They executed their offense and made plays.
"We didn't make any huge mistakes that gave away the game. They just played great basketball."
The Pioneers (21-12) trailed most of the contest, including by 14 points, 32-18, midway through the first half after Georgetown (29-3) got off to a fast start.
"That was probably the one stage of the game where I felt we didn't play well," Harrelson said. "The tempo was right for us, but we missed some shots that sometimes we make. Maybe a couple of those weren't the shots we wanted to take; maybe we should have made one or two extra passes. But guys were trying to make plays and we've hit those shots before, so you can't really blame anyone for that.
"They just didn't always fall today."
Wayland, though, slowly worked its way back in the game, with a 3-pointer by
Marshall Nelson putting the Pioneers up 58-56 with 12:24 to go.
"Once we started moving the ball and shots started falling, we took the lead," Harrelson said.
That, however, was Wayland's only lead of the second half.
While Georgetown quickly regained control, Wayland still was within reach, trailing by five, 75-70, with just over seven minutes showing. The Tigers then put it away by scoring the next eight points – including back-to-back 3-pointers by Troy Steward and Noah Cottrill after a costly turnover and two missed free throws by the Pioneers – as part of a game-clinching 19-5 spurt and game-ending 27-13 run.
"Their coach (Chris Briggs) did a good job when we took the lead. He took a timeout and got them composed and they came out and executed their offense," Harrelson said. "They broke the press and made layups. They didn't panic. They just kept playing."
Wayland got 26 points from junior
Maurice Redmond and 16 from seniors
Robert Waters and 10 from
Jordon Johnson. The Pioneers shot 37 percent from the field (26-of-71), hitting 43 percent (9-of-21) from 3-point range, compared to Georgetown's 50 percent (37-of-74) overall and 53 percent (8-of-15) from beyond the arc.
"We missed some easy shots in transition – some layups and mid-range jumpers – some free throws and even some 3s we usually make," Harrelson said. "Some things we've been doing well didn't work today, and you have to credit Georgetown. Their big guys contested some of our guards' shots and made it really tough."
With a decisive height advantage, Georgetown held a 53-34 rebounding edge. The Tigers also blocked eight shots.
"The other team was big and athletic; they were who we thought they were. But our guys competed," Harrelson said. "That (being under-sized) has happened to us most of the year, so we've seen teams like them. What made them so strong is they were efficient. They continually went after the rebound and secured the rebound. They got putbacks (17 offensive rebounds and 52 points in the paint). They weren't just big, they're good basketball players AND they're big."
The Tigers missed just four of 24 free throws (83 percent) while the Pioneers were 22-of-32 (69 percent).
Harrelson said those missed 10 fouls shots hurt as much as anything.
"We shot a pretty high percentage in the conference tournament, but they didn't fall like we wanted today," he said, adding that the Pioneers played the way they wanted "for 36 minutes or so. We needed to do it for 40 minutes. You'd so love to have those for minutes back, but you just don't get them back."
Cottrill led the 2013 national champions with 28 points, including 9-of-10 free throws. Deondre McWhorter added 19 points and 12 rebounds, Steward 17 points, and Tony Kimbro 11.
Harrelson complimented Cottrill and McWhorter.
"You feel like you're doing a good job on them, but at the end of the game one has 28 points and the other has 19 and 12," the coach said with a chuckle.
Georgetown advances to a 12:30 p.m. game Friday against either No. 16 Arizona Christian (22-8) or No. 17 William Carey, Miss. (20-11), who meet at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
While Wayland's season ended in the first round at nationals for the third straight season, Harrelson said he is "really proud" of his first Pioneers team.
"Every single one of them played with heart and passion, and I can't say enough good things about our seniors and the success they've had here at Wayland. As a former player I'm proud of them, and as a coach it's been a joy to not only coach them but watch them play."
NOTE: Waters will participate in the 3-point shooting competition as part of NABC-NAIA Shoot & Slam, presented by US Bank. Waters is one of four shooters selected to compete in the event beginning at 4 p.m. Saturday, in between the four quarterfinal games. The winner will face the winner of a separate 3-point contest that features area Kansas City high school players in a winner-take-all 3-point contest. Waters ranks No. 1 in the NAIA in 3-pointers made per game (3.9) and is eighth in points per game (21.2) and free throw percentage (86.3 percent).
