Box Score
It was Free Fries Night on Saturday in Hutcherson Center, courtesy of the 20
th-ranked Pioneers and McDonald's.
With
Josh Throns,
J.J. Culver and
Trevonta Robertson doing most of the work, Wayland Baptist poured in 14 3-pointers, allowing all fans to receive a coupon for free French fries at McDonald's as the Pioneers dispatched the Huston-Tillotson University Rams, 91-75.
"I think it's a great team win. Huston-Tillotson is a very talented team. They showed that in the second half. They played really well," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
It was Harrelson's Pioneers who played well – really, really well – to start the game.
Wayland raced to an eye-popping 26-point, 35-9 lead in the first 11 minutes of action against the Rams, who were making their season debut.
After the visitors from Austin scored the first two points of the game, the Pioneers answered with the next 13. Three of Wayland's first four buckets were 3s, two by Culver and one by Robertson. Culver nailed another bomb to make it 24-4, then Robertson connected for a 31-6 spread.
"The first 10 minutes of the game were just fantastic," Harrelson said. "Our starters were focused on both sides of the ball. Coach (Xavier) Webb did a great job with the scouting report having us prepared for Huston-Tillotson's offense."
Tre Fillmore and Throns joined the fun and each had a pair of 3s. Having hit nine treys, Wayland was up 21, 49-28, at intermission.
But Huston-Tillotson looked like a different team after the break. The Rams used a series of fast-break buckets and three 3s to fuel a 14-0 run that cut it to 51-45 five minutes in.
Cue Throns, who drilled back-to-back 3s that quickly took Wayland's lead back out to double-digits. Throns later connected on a 4-point play, and the Pioneers ultimately went on to their biggest lead of the game, 27 points at 89-62, before settling for the 16-point win.
Throns, after being held to 10 points in Wayland's first two games combined, erupted for 21 on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Culver finished with 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while Robertson put in 19 points.
"J.J., Trevonta and Josh all shot the ball well. When those three guys are all going, we're going to be tough to beat," Harrelson said. "Josh scored 21 points in 19 minutes, so that's over a point a minute. J.J. had some amazing blocked shots from behind, tracking people down."
Wayland hit 14-of-29 (48 percent) from long range and 60 percent (37-of-62) overall. The Rams made a dozen 3s, but it took them 38 attempts (32 percent), and overall they shot just 35 percent from the field (27-of-77).
The Pioneers recorded a season-high 24 assists.
"We wanted to get our assists up, and we did that," Harrelson said. "I thought it was very unselfish basketball. When we do that we're pretty good.
"We got everybody some minutes tonight. I feel like everybody can play."
The Pioneers next host another Red River Athletic Conference school, University of the Southwest, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, after the schools' junior varsities meet at 6. The Mustangs will come to town with a 1-3 record, having defeated first-year Ottawa-Arizona, 65-63, while losing to Northern New Mexico, 98-77, and two Sooner Athletic Conference teams, Mid-American Christian, 105-71, and Science & Arts of Oklahoma, 102-93.
"It's nice to win, but we still have stuff to work on," Harrelson said. "We're not where we want to be."
