Box Score
OKLAHOMA CITY – Wayland Baptist's time alone atop the Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball standings didn't last nearly as long as they hoped it would as the 11
th-ranked Pioneers fell to No. 21 Oklahoma City on Thursday night in Abe Lemons Arena, 79-70.
Trailing by 10 at the half, Wayland couldn't get closer than eight points in the second half as the Pioneers' (13-4, 6-3 SAC) four-game winning streak was brought to an end by the Stars (12-5, 5-4), who were coming off a 95-85 loss to Central Christian on Tuesday.
Wayland shot well from the field – 44 percent (22-of-50), including 41 percent (9-of-22) from 3-point range – but struggled at the free-throw line, where the Pioneers connected on just 17-of-29 (59 percent). OCU made 24-of-34 (71 percent) of its foul shots while also shooting 44 percent (26-of-59) from the field and 25 percent (3-of-12) from beyond the arc.
The Pioneers got 22 points from
Ruben Lopez, who hit 4-of-6 3s, 16 from
Trevonta Robertson and 11 from
Josh Throns. Wayland's inside quartet of
Samuel Kalwanyi,
Rokas Mazionis,
Marko Zelic and
Kraig Shields was limited to seven points and 14 rebounds. As a team, WBU was out-rebounded, 43-31.
OCU, which doubled Wayland in in-the-paint scoring (36-18), was paced by the 20 points and 10 rebounds of Samuel Williams, who hit all 10 of his free throws. Ivan Saicic added 14 points, Lou Dunbar 12 and Ridell Camidge 10.
The game went back-and-forth for the first 11 minutes, with Wayland's largest lead three points. The last of those 3-point leads evaporated when the Stars went on a 9-0 run for a 28-22 lead, and the Pioneers never had the upper-hand again.
OCU was up 35-25 at the half. Wayland closed to within eight points eight times after that, but the Stars wouldn't let the Pioneers any closer. OCU's largest lead was 16 points.
The Pioneers continue north to Kansas to play SAC newcomer Central Christian (9-7, 3-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Tigers on Thursday fell at home to Oklahoma Panhandle State, 81-79.
Wayland is now tied for first place in the SAC standings with No. 15 USAO (15-3, 6-3) and Texas Wesleyan (12-6, 6-3), with four teams within a game. Five SAC teams are ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25.
NAIA Div.I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (Jan. 16)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2017-18 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
3 |
William Penn (Iowa) (4) |
16-1 |
215 |
| 2 |
8 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (4) |
17-0 |
211 |
| 3 |
4 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) (1) |
16-1 |
205 |
| 4 |
5 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
18-1 |
201 |
| T5 |
7 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
18-1 |
186 |
| T5 |
1 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
17-1 |
186 |
| 7 |
9 |
Hope International (Calif.) |
18-1 |
176 |
| 8 |
10 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
16-2 |
167 |
| 9 |
T12 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
17-1 |
163 |
| 10 |
2 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
16-2 |
155 |
| 11 |
21 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
12-3 |
146 |
| 12 |
6 |
Pikeville (Ky.) |
16-2 |
143 |
| T13 |
18 |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
13-4 |
132 |
| T13 |
17 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
14-4 |
132 |
| 15 |
20 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
13-3 |
123 |
| 16 |
16 |
Montana Western |
14-3 |
111 |
| 17 |
19 |
Missouri Baptist |
15-3 |
102 |
| 18 |
T24 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
14-3 |
95 |
| 19 |
T24 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
12-4 |
88 |
| 20 |
NR |
Westmont (Calif.) |
14-3 |
86 |
| 21 |
14 |
Oklahoma City |
11-4 |
81 |
| 22 |
NR |
Xavier (La.) |
13-4 |
76 |
| 23 |
NR |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
12-6 |
65 |
| 24 |
11 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
13-4 |
55 |
| 25 |
NR |
Life (Ga.) |
13-5 |
50 |
|
|
|
|
|
Others Receiving Votes: SAGU (Texas) 33; Vanguard (Calif.) 33; Peru State (Neb.) 24; Langston (Okla.) 17; Montana State-Northern 14; Campbellsville (Ky.) 10; Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 10; Talladega (Ala.) 3; Texas Wesleyan 3.
Dropped Out: No. 12 (tie) Mid-America Christian (Okla.); No. 15 Campbellsville (Ky.); No. 22 William Jessup (Calif.); No. 23 Arizona Christian
^ Previous ranking occurred Jan. 2, 2018 (Poll No. 2)
