Pioneers come through in double OT

Box Score As special as their win was over Southwestern Christian on Thursday night, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers may have topped it Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center.

It doesn't get much better than a two-overtime, come-from-behind victory on Senior Day, especially when the lone senior on the roster is Maurice Redmond. It also didn't hurt that a freshman, J.J. Culver, had a coming-out party and went off for 36 points.

"It was special, in large part because we won in Moe's final home game," Wayland coach Ty Harrelson said after the Pioneers ended the regular-season by outlasting Science and Arts of Oklahoma in a double-OT, Sooner Athletic Conference thriller, 113-107.

And now the Pioneers and Drovers will get to do it all over again Tuesday in Chickasha, Okla., in the first round of the conference tournament.

Wayland (18-12, 10-8 SAC) wound up tied with No. 19 Oklahoma City (19-9, 10-8) for fifth place in the conference. The Pioneers own the tie-breaker over the Stars and will play their SAC Tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday night in a rematch against USAO (16-13, 11-7), which tied Southwestern Christian for third but ended as the No. 4 seed after tie-breakers were figured.

WBU's rematch with the Drovers on Tuesday in Oklahoma is tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Pioneers came very close to being involved in a three-way tie for fourth place with OCU and Southwestern Christian and hosting a first-round game. For that to have happened, on Saturday Wayland needed to beat USAO while OCU and SCU both needed to lose. The Stars did fall on the road to Mid-America Christian, 73-65, but the Eagles, ranked the equivalent of 28^th, edged John Brown at home in a low-scoring overtime game, 55-51.

On Saturday, the Pioneers and Drovers were tied at 84 after regulation, which saw Wayland rally from a 10-point first-half hole and USAO make up a four-point deficit in the final 50 seconds. The first 40 minutes ended with Redmond putting up an off-balance shot that missed at the buzzer.

The Drovers then went on an 11-4 run to open the first extra period, but the Pioneers finished it off by outscoring USAO 8-1, including six points by Culver. The last of those came on an inside jump shot that dropped with less than two seconds to go.

"Our guys kept their composure, didn't get rattled, and fought their way back into it one possession at a time," Harrelson said.

Culver then went on to score Wayland's first five points of the second OT, when the Pioneers never trailed. Wayland built a seven-point lead, 106-99, after Joshua Throns nailed a 3-pointer – his only bucket of the game – and Redmond converted a steal by Ruben Lopez into a bucket.

"Moe made plays when we needed them," Harrelson said.

Culver and Redmond then combined to hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute, the last two after a steal by Culver helped put the final nail in the Drovers' coffin.

Culver's 36 points – 30 of which came after halftime, including 14 in the overtimes – doubled the freshman's previous season-high.

"J.J. has been really good all season. He really ignites our defensive pressure and he attacks and plays in transition," Harrelson said. "Today he just made plays. He hit some 3s and made his free throws, and he was aggressive.

"He works hard every day and I'm glad that it paid off tonight."

Redmond finished with 23 points, Lopez 19, Tyrone Davis 18 and Austin Mansour 10. Mansour also had a career-high 12 rebounds as the freshman earned his first career double-double.

Harrelson said Davis, who doubled his season-best offensive output before fouling out three seconds into the first overtime, "played like a man today. He had his best game of the season and showed how tough he can be."

The Pioneers shot well from the field – 44 percent (35-of-80) overall and 37 percent (11-of-30) from 3-ponit range – but were unconscious at the free-throw line, sinking 32-of-35 for 91.4 percent.

"We talk all the time about how free throws can win games for us, so I'm glad we hit that high of a percentage. We needed all of them," Harrelson said.

The 113 points were four short of WBU's season-high in a 117-70 win over on Nov. 10 against Northern New Mexico.

USAO, which knocked down 15-of-38 3s, had two players with 30-plus point: Taran Buie with 33 and Imani Edwards with 31. Julius Foster tacked on 20 and Brendan Chapman 13.

Only 13 bench points were scored by both teams, seven by Wayland.

The Pioneers now head to Chickasha where they dropped a 103-92 decision to the Drovers on Jan. 28. The winner of Tuesday's rubber match joins the three other quarterfinals winners, and the women's final four, for the remainder of the conference tournament at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City.

The WBU-USAO winner is likely to face regular-season champion and 11^th-ranked Texas Wesleyan (23-6, 13-5) in the semifinals Friday. The championship is at 4 p.m. Saturday, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City.

Wayland, which is one seed higher than it was last year in the conference tourney, is looking for a third straight SAC Tournament title and a return trip to nationals for the fourth straight year.

"I feel like we've played our way into the (national) tournament," Harrelson said. "If the voters will take into account our strength of schedule and how we played in conference, we're one of the hottest teams."

NOTE: Coach Ty Harrelson's comments on Redmond, who was honored before the game as the team's lone senior: "Moe is an absolutely great player and even better person. He has led WBU in several statistical categories the last two years and leads nearly all of them this season. But stats aren't what we will remember about Moe. We will remember him exciting the Hutch with big blocks, highlight-reel dunks, and dramatic game-winning 3's. His excitement is contagious and he has produced several storm-the-court moments which will be etched in all of our memories. Moe exemplifies what we look for in student-athletes. He is one of only a few two-time conference champions in the history of Wayland. I am working closely with the science department to clone Moe in order to stabilize the future here. We don't want to say good-bye to this kid, but the time has come. Well done, Moe!"…Harrelson donned one of Redmond's trademark headbands when the win was clinched and as Redmond was substituted out for his final bow...
  Men's Bracket
Tuesday, Feb. 28. Times determined by home team. Seeds are in parenthesis. Highest seed hosts.
(8) Mid-America Christian University (16-14, 7-11) at (1) Texas Wesleyan University (23-6, 13-5)
(5) Wayland Baptist University (18-12, 10-8) at (4) University of Science and Arts of Okla. (16-13, 11-7)
(6) Oklahoma City University (19-9, 10-8) at (3) Southwestern Christian University (19-11, 11-7)
(7) John Brown University (15-14, 7-11) at (2) Southwestern Assemblies of God University (22-8, 12-6)
Semifinals
Friday, March 3 at Oklahoma City University – Abe Lemons Arena. Times determined by SAC
MACU/TWU winner vs. WBU/USAO Winner
OCU/SCU winner vs. JBU/SAGU winner
Championship, March 4 at Oklahoma City University – Abe Lemons Arena.
4 p.m. – Men's Championship