3 go for 20-plus as Pioneers pick up meaningful win over Our Lady of the Lake

Box Score Trevonta Robertson scored 24 points, Josh Throns 23 and Ruben Lopez 22 as the Wayland Baptist Pioneers picked up a meaningful 103-85 victory over Our Lady of the Lake on Monday night in Hutcherson Center.
 
"This is a great win for our program," said Wayland coach Ty Harrelson, noting that OLLU, a member of the Red River Athletic Conference ranked the equivalent of 30^th in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Top 25, was coming off a last-second loss to NCAA Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi over the weekend.
 
Wayland, which kept its record perfect at 5-0, trailed by close to double digits midway through the first half, but once the Pioneers put things together there was no stopping them. WBU went on a game-changing run to lead 53-45 at the half, then didn't let off the pressure in the second half.
 
"I thought we did a great job of moving the ball and finding the open man tonight. That is a credit to the players staying composed and executing a game plan. OLLU is known for their full-court press and ball pressure," Harrelson said.
 
After OLLU (2-1 scored the first bucket of the second half to cut it to six, Wayland went on another big run, this one 13 unanswered to take a commanding 19-point, 66-47. Throns and Culver started the push with 3-pointers and Culver ended it with another.
 
The Saints never got within 13 points after that.
 
Wayland hit 14-of-31 from 3-point range (45 percent), with Throns throwing in 6-of-15 and Lopez 3-of-6.
 
Lopez, a senior guard who also had eight assists and just one turnover, ended one point short of his career-high; Throns' WBU best is 33 points last season. It was a season-high for Robertson, a junior transfer.
 
"Ruben really came ready to play. The kid is as tough as I have seen at this level. He gets beat up and just keeps making plays," Harrelson said. "Ruben, Tyrone (Davis) and Rokas (Mazionis) found Josh on multiple occasions. Josh kept moving to open spots and we were finding him. He has the unique ability to shoot quickly from anywhere. He was big today."
 
Mazionis added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive end, while Marco Zelic added eight points and nine boards off the bench.
 
"Marko and Rokas both played great on the interior, grabbing rebounds and making good decisions offensively," Harrelson said.
 
Culver and Robertson matched the OLLU tempo and pressure with great defensive efforts as well as making offensive plays.
 
"Trevonta and J.J. are dynamic in the open court. Their speed and ability to get to the hoop opened up the game in the second half," Harrelson said. "Tyrone was tough as always. He does a little bit of everything, including banking in 3-pointers from nearly midcourt (as the shot clock expired). When a shot like that goes in, you know it's your day."
 
The Saints, who launched 42 3-pointers (making 14 for 33 percent), were led by Courtney Julien's 22 points. Yephnick Adelphonse added 13.
 
Wayland outrebounded OLLU 43-29, including 20 offensive boards.
 
The Pioneers take a week off before their next outing Nov. 20 back home against Jarvis Christian, a team Wayland defeated, 97-82, on Nov. 6 in Hawkins.
 
"We are setting ourselves up in a good position to receive (Top 25) votes early in December. However, we need to continue to focus on playing one game and one possession at a time," said Harrelson, adding that he's looking forward to getting Sammy Kalwanyi back from injury in December.
 
"Sammy adds depth and athleticism to our team," the coach added. "We will be tough to beat when he's ready to go."