PUEBLO, Colo. – Looking to pick up another win over an NCAA Division II opponent, Wayland Baptist came up a bit short here Saturday night, falling to Colorado State-Pueblo, 88-80.
It was the first loss of the season for the 20
th-ranked Pioneers (5-1), who defeated Adams State on Friday, 84-80. CSU-Pueblo, host of the 35
th annual Al Kaly Shrine Classic, improved to 2-2. The ThunderWolves lost on Friday to Midwestern State, 92-66.
Wayland went ahead of the home team, 17-6, but the ThunderWolves went on a 15-3 run to take the lead, and the Pioneers spent most of the rest of the game playing catch-up.
They almost did.
After trailing by 14, 54-40, Wayland went on a 13-2 run to get within 56-53 on a 3-pointer by
Tre Fillmore. But the Pioneers let the ThunderWolves out of their grasp and bell behind by 11.
Wayland made one last run, with a pair of 3-pointers by
Josh Throns getting the Pioneers to within 82-80 with 27 seconds to play. But a pair of freshman came through for CSU-Pueblo in Cade Carroll and Tyson Gilbert, who combined to make four free throws on either end of a Pioneer turnover.
Trevonta Robertson, who hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lift WBU to its win Friday, couldn't connect this time before the ThunderWolves hit two more free throws to wind up the scoring.
Robertson finished with 17 points while
Jack Nobles got 16 points and 13 rebounds.
J.J. Culvert finished with 14 points and seven assists,
Rokas Mazionis 12 points and nine rebounds, and Throns 11 points.
Wayland, which has defeated five NCAA D-II schools over the past four seasons, finished with a 43-27 edge on the boards, allowing the ThunderWolves only three offensive rebounds while getting 20 of their own. But the Pioneers were done in at the foul line where they went 15-of-25 (60 percent) compared to CSU-Pueblo's 14-of-16 (88 percent).
Donovan Oldham, a 6-foot-4 redshirt junior, led the ThunderWolves with 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-6 3-balls. Jason Anderson added 19 and Gilbert 10. CSU-Pueblo hit 12-of-29 (41 percent) from beyond the arc, where Wayland was 5-of-17 (29 percent).
Robertson and Culver were named to the all-tournament team, along with Oldham, Adams State's John Dewey, and Midwestern State's D'Monta Harris and MVP Bishop Coulter.
The Pioneers are back home at 3 p.m. Wednesday to take on unbeaten Central Baptist College (3-0) in the first game of a doubleheader that will see the No. 6 Flying Queens make their home debut against Northern New Mexico at 5.
Wednesday's games are the final outings before the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play Nov. 29 for both WBU squads.
