Box Score
Now that's the way to get conference play started!
Powered by 18 3-pointers – including seven by Josh Throns – the Wayland Baptist Pioneers steamrolled defending NAIA national champion Texas Wesleyan in their Sooner Athletic Conference debut Thursday night in Hutcherson Center, 90-61.
"Our guys came out super focused," Wayland coach Ty Harrelson said. "We were really hitting on all cylinders."
Coming off its first loss of the season five days earlier against Our Lady of the Lake, Wayland (8-1) never let the No. 1-ranked Rams (5-3) into the game.
After Texas Wesleyan scored the first point of the night, the Pioneers reeled off the next 11. By the midway point of the first half Wayland held a commanding 22-point, 31-9 lead.
"We jumped out ahead and never looked back," Harrelson said.
It was a 32-point spread, 52-20, at the half. By then the Pioneers had drilled a dozen of their 18 3s, with Throns going 6-of-7 behind the arc. Two of his Throns' 3s were in the 30-plus-foot range.
"Josh was just awesome. He played a really complete game right from the start," Harrelson said of Throns, who finished with 21 points on 7-of-9 field goals – all 3-pointers, plus a team-high five assists, four rebounds, two steals and no turnovers.
Wayland kept pouring it on in the second half, going up by as many as 40 points, 63-23, five minutes into the second half.
"If you're No. 1 you have a target on your back, so that's not easy," Harrelson said.
The Pioneers' largest advantage was a startling 45 points, 80-35, before Harrelson called off the dogs.
It took a 24-8 game-ending run by Texas Wesleyan to get the final margin under 30.
"(Assistant coach Landon Hughey) mentioned before the game that you don't get to go against the No. 1 team in the nation that often," Harrelson said. "I remember when I was playing, Oklahoma Baptist came in here No. 1 and we beat them, and (student assistant coach) Mo Redmond said he was on a team that beat SAGU when they were No. 1.
"Those are special days and special moments."
Tyrone Davis added 16 points, Ruben Lopez got 15 and freshman Tre Fillmore contributed 11 off the bench, including three 3s.
"Like Josh, Tyrone was also very good at the start. The first five were all pretty solid tonight. When that happens we're really good," Harrelson said. "We also had some young guys step in. I was proud of them. They did good things throughout the game."
Eleven Pioneers scored – and seven made 3-pointers – as Wayland shot 53 percent (32-of-61) from the field, including 18-of-35 (51 percent) from long range.
Rokas Mazionis wounded up with 11 rebounds and five points while J.J. Culver had six rebounds, four steals and four points.
The Rams, who got 22 points from Jeremy Crane, shot 31 percent (16-of-52) from the field, including just 22 percent (6-of-27) in the first half. They made 8-of-25 3-pointers (32 percent) and committed 21 turnovers with no steals on Wayland's 14 giveaways.
Wayland faces another test at 3 p.m. Saturday against unbeaten Southwestern Assemblies of God University (6-0, 1-0), which kicked off SAC play with a 95-68 road win over Oklahoma Panhandle State. The Lions, the conference runner-up last season, are ranked the equivalent of 32nd in the NAIA.
"SAGU is a really good, well-coached team. I think they're leading the nation in steals (17.2 per game) and are (fourth) in scoring (106.4 ppg)," Harrelson said. "Hopefully we come out with the same defensive intensity as we did tonight. We also have to take care of the ball like we did tonight.
"If we do those two things on Saturday we'll give ourselves a chance to win the game. It should be a high-tempo, exciting game."
Harrelson also would love to see a repeat of fan support, not only Saturday but all season.
"The crowd tonight was fantastic. I hope they support us like that all year because that really gets our guys going."
