Pioneers get it done with defense vs. Jarvis

Box Score

Thanks to some standout defense, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers had a little easier go of things Monday night in Hutcherson Center than they did two weeks ago in Hawkins.

 

Fourteen days after having to rally from 17 points down to defeat Jarvis Christian College, the most the Pioneers ever trailed in the rematch was two points, 2-0, as Wayland powered its way to a 70-53 victory over the Bulldogs.

 

The Pioneers were trailing 10-9 when Ruben Lopez hit a 3-pointer with 11:47 left in the first half to give Wayland (6-0) the lead for good. An off-balance 3-pointer from the left wing by Josh Throns just before the halftime buzzer provided WBU its largest lead to that point, 32-20.

 

Jarvis (1-4) scored the first four points of the second half to cut it to eight, but that's as close as the Bulldogs got. Wayland put up nine unanswered points – with Throns and Trevonta Robertson taking turns scoring four buckets – to begin to pull away, up 41-24.

 

WBU stretched the margin to as many as 23 before settling for the 17-point victory.

 

When the teams met Nov. 6, Wayland came from behind to record a 97-82 victory. Pioneers coach Ty Harrelson said the difference between that game and Monday was having the right defensive matchups for his players.

 

"The first time we played them that was their first game of the season, so we didn't know how their players play and were trying to do matchups on the fly. Tonight I felt like Coach (Landon) Hughey), Coach (Xavier) Webb and Coach (Maurice) Redmond did a good job of having our guys prepared for their plays and did a good job with matchups," Harrelson said.

 

While Jarvis scored 46 points in the first half of their first meeting, the Bulldogs tallied just 20 in the first 20 minutes Monday night.

 

"Clearly it was our defense," Harrelson said of the biggest difference in the two contests. "They hit a lot of 3-pointers in the first half (in the first game)."

 

The 3s weren't falling for the Bulldogs in the Hutch as Jarvis made just 2-of-19 (10½ percent).

 

The 53 points is the fewest allowed by a WBU team since a 97-44 victory over Barclay on Jan. 8, 2014.

 

"Defensively this is the best team I've coached (in three years at Wayland)," Harrelson said. "They're really fundamental. The starting five does a great job of boxing out and limiting their second-chance opportunities.

 

"Then Marko (Zelic) and Trevonta came off the bench and Marko had three blocks and Trevonta three steals. Both of them are good enough to start, but they come in and play their role. Almost every time this season they've come in and we've taken off."

 

Sophomore J.J. Culver did not score and dished out only one assist, but pulled down a career-high nine rebounds.

 

"J.J. tweaked his ankle pretty early on and tried to play through it, and I was taking him out (to rest him) and then putting him back in, so he never got in an offensive flow. But he got nine rebounds and did some things that don't show up on the stat sheet, like play good defense," Harrelson said.

 

Throns scored 18 points and Robertson 17 while Rokas Mazionis contributed 14 points and a dozen rebounds – his third double-double of the young season – in 20 minutes to help keep the Pioneers (6-0) unbeaten. Lopez added 13 points and five assists.

 

"He got in foul trouble, but I thought Rokas was really tough tonight," Harrelson said.

 

The 70 points is the fewest scored by the Pioneers in a win since a 60-58 triumph over St. Thomas to kick off the 2014-15 campaign.

 

Wayland dominated the boards against Jarvis, 52-36.

 

The Bulldogs shot just 29 percent from the field (9-of-31) in the first half and ended the game at 32 percent (19-of-60), including the dismal 2-of-19 showing from 3-point range. Wayland shot 35 percent overall (24-of-68) and 9-of-29 (31 percent) from deep.

 

"Bob Huggins (West Virginia coach) said, 'You've got to be able to win when you don't hit shots,' and we did that tonight," Harrelson said.

 

The game featured close to 300 members of the Plainview High School Powerhouse of the Plains Marching Band, which was on hand to perform and be recognized for extended its national record of 80 straight UIL Marching Division I scores.

 

WBU's six straight wins to open the season is the most for the program since the Pioneers won seven in a row to commence the 2008-09 season. They'll look to match that Friday when Wayland will be in Austin to face Huston-Tillotson at 5 p.m. Huston-Tillotson is 0-2, having lost to top-ranked, defending national champion Texas Wesleyan, 94-79, and to Xavier, La., 82-68.

 

Wayland will follow Friday's game with a 3 p.m. contest Saturday in San Antonio against Our Lady of the Lake, a team Wayland defeated Nov. 13 in Plainview, 103-85. OLLU is ranked the equivalent of 30^th in the NAIA.

 

The most games the Pioneers have ever won to start a season is nine, first in 1985-86 then again in 2004-05.