Box Score SAN ANTONIO – Twelve days after blowing out Our Lady of the Lake by 18 points at Hutcherson Center, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers suffered their first loss of the season courtesy of that same Saints team here Saturday afternoon, 74-60.
"Our Lake of the Lake played really well today. They defended us hard for 40 minutes. Our kids battled, we just didn't make shots we normally make," Wayland coach Ty Harrelson said.
Wayland (7-1), which defeated OLLU on Nov. 13 in Plainview, 103-85, came out of the gates hot and took a 9-2 lead. But the Saints (4-2), ranked the equivalent of 30th in the NAIA, answered with a 15-7 run to take a one-point lead, and they never looked back.
OLLU went on to lead by as many as 13 points in the first half. Wayland's J.J. Culver hit a 3-pointer to start the second half and cut the Pioneers' deficit to seven points, but that's as close as WBU came. The Saints' largest lead was 17 points.
"I felt like we played a little bit lethargic, a little bit tired. After a game like last night (Wayland defeated Huston-Tillotson in Austin, 102-92) it's understandable," Harrelson said. "But we can't use that as an excuse. If we make the conference tournament or the national tournament, we'll play back-to-back days. The team is going to have to adjust.
"I probably should have played a bigger rotation. We played the seven or eight guys that have been getting most of the minutes, and maybe they didn't have the legs. Maybe they were mentally were tired, too."
Culver was the only Pioneer in double figures with 17 points. Tyrone Davis finished with nine for Wayland.
By 10 points it was Wayland's lowest offensive output of the season and its lowest since a 78-54 loss to Southwestern Assemblies of God last February. The Pioneers shot 39 percent (20-of-52) from the field compared to OLLU's 46 percent (25-of-54). Both teams shot hit six 3-pointers, Wayland on 18 attempts and OLLU on 19, while the Pioneers hit 14-of-23 free throws (61 percent) to the Saints' 18-of-24 (75 percent).
"We were getting stops on defense, but missed some shots we normally make," Harrelson said. "The main thing we did today that we haven't been doing is turn the ball over. That's kind of what Our Lady of the Lake does to you. They put pressure on you and trap you and we didn't handle it well."
The Pioneers turned it over 28 times, although that was just one more than OLLU's 27. The Saints outrebounded Wayland, 38-27, with the Pioneers grabbing just five offensive boards.
Courtney Julien led four Saints in double figures with 25 points.
Incredibly, it was the fifth time this season Wayland has provided the competition for an opponent's home-opener.
"Any time a team its playing its first home game they're pretty excited. We challenged our guys each time and they responded pretty well," Harrelson said.
Off to its best start since the 2008-09 season, WBU came up two wins shy of matching the best start in program history, 9-0 during the 1985-86 and 2004-05 seasons. While Harrelson said it's disappointing the Pioneers didn't reach the record, he's thrilled to be 7-1 going into the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play next week.
"We've had a pretty tough schedule, been on the road a lot. So to have a 7-1 record going into conference is something to be proud about," the coach said. "I'm proud of the guys. What happened today we have to learn from, put it behind us, and start preparing for Texas Wesleyan. We'll get the guys home and get them rested so they're full of energy for next Thursday."
The Pioneers host defending national champion and top-ranked Texas Wesleyan at 8 p.m. Thursday in Hutcherson Center, after the Flying Queens go for their 1,600th all-time win at 6.
"Texas Wesleyan is obviously a good team and this is a really big game for us. Fortunately we get to play them at home. Our home court has been good to us," Harrelson said.
The Pioneers are 3-0 at home this season and 27-4 the last three years under Harrelson. That includes a 79-77 victory over Texas Wesleyan last year in the Hutch.
