Pioneers ride FTs, defense to opening win

J.J. Culver scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds, and 20th-ranked Wayland Baptist flexed its defensive muscles down the stretch to break away from Arlington Baptist for a season-opening 70-49 victory Monday night as part of the McDonald's Classic.
 
In the first game of the tournament, St. Thomas (Houston) defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State, 91-84. Monday's winners play at 8 p.m. Tuesday after Arlington Baptist goes against OPSU at 6.
 
Wayland clung to a 37-32 lead in the opening seconds after halftime. Just over three minutes later the Pioneers slowly started to pull away.
Back-to-back layups by Trevonta Robertson gave WBU its first double-digit lead, 48-38, four minutes after the half, and the Pioneers never led by less than that the rest of the way.
 
Wayland was up 55-45 with just under 11 minutes to play then went on an 11-2 run to open up a 19-point, 66-47 lead.
 
Arlington Baptist scored just four points in the final 10:58 and just two in the last 7:13.
 
"I thought it was great defense by our guys," Harrelson said. "Some of the points we gave up in the first half I felt like were my fault. We probably should have defended them a little bit differently, which we did in the second half."
 
Besides Culver's near double-double (he also had four assists), Robertson ended with 16 points.
 
"I thought J.J. was excellent, as was Trevonta. Those two guys played a great basketball game tonight," Harrelson said.
 
While Culver and Robertson did damage driving the lane, the Pioneers struggled from 3-point range, hitting just 4-of-22. And, Harrelson said, "Arlington Baptist did a great job of clogging up the paint and double-teaming our big guys."
 
Wayland shot 78 percent (18-of-23) from the free-throw line, including 10-of-12 for Culver.
 
"Our free throws were really good, which is a testament to our guys really working on it," Harrelson said. As for the cold 3-point shooting, the coach said it was just one of those nights.
 
"We weren't necessarily taking bad shots, they just weren't falling. I don't know if it was a first-game thing or what."
 
The Patriots made just 3-of-11 from the foul line but hit 8-of-16 3s. Gentry Daegan led Arlington Baptist with 15 points on 5-of-6 long-range shooting. Jashun Petite made 3-of-6 3s and added 13 points.
 
"I thought our big guys controlled the paint defensively. That made it really hard for them to get easy shots," Harrelson said. "We didn't do very well rebounding the first half; they had nine offensive rebounds. But the second half we won the rebounds and limited their opportunities."
 
Arlington Baptist outrebounded Wayland 22-18 before intermission, but the Pioneers turned that around to 22-13 in the second half. The Pioneers turned it over 18 times, four fewer than the Patriots.
 
"We have to reduce turnovers," said Harrelson, who complimented junior point-guard Chris Doerue in his first start. "He picked up his third foul in the second half and I just didn't get him back in." Doerue ended with six points in 14 minutes.
 
Looking ahead to Tuesday's opponent St. Thomas, which before defeating OPSU on Monday lost its season-opener to Oklahoma Wesleyan 107-104, Harrelson expects a tough match-up.
 
"I think St. Thomas is really good. They're very well-coached and have 10 returners, so they've been together awhile. They're fast, move the ball offensively, push it in transition, and can hit 3s.
 
"We'll have our hands full. I hope my guys go home and rest."