BELTON – Wayland Baptist played a third straight nail-biter Tuesday night, falling to NCAA Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor in non-conference play, 90-84 in overtime.
"I thought we played really well in the first half but gave up too many points in the second half. Then in overtime we missed too many free throws," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
The 19
th-ranked Pioneers (8-4) led the Crusaders (10-1) by as many as 10, 42-32, early in the second half, but after falling behind by nine, 68-59, had to come from behind to force overtime. They did it by scoring 10 unanswered points – eight by
Josh Throns – to go up by one with 1½ minutes left.
The lead changed hands six times after that, the last time with six seconds left when
Trevonta Robertson hit a driving layup against two defenders two give Wayland a 75-74 lead.
The Crusaders' Demarius Cress then raced the length of the floor and was fouled as he attempted a game-winning shot in the lane.
"I thought my guys played perfect defense," Harrelson said.
Cress was injured on the play and, after a lengthy delay, Cress was unable to shoot the foul shots. As a result, Wayland picked Shaq Martin to shoot for him, and with 1.3 seconds showing Martin hit the first but missed the second to leave it tied. Wayland called timeout after grabbing the rebound.
Much like last Thursday's play against Central Christian in which
Jack Nobles tossed a length-of-the-floor pass to Robertson for the game-winning 4-point play, Nobles again launched a rainbow pass, but it was intercepted by UMHB and the teams headed to overtime.
The Pioneers never held the upper-hand in the five-minute extra period, which began with a 3-pointer by Martin. Wayland trailed by two after a bucket by
Chris Doerue with 42 seconds left. After Mary Hardin-Baylor answered, Robertson missed a shot on the other end and Byrale Carter rebounded for the Crusaders prior to hitting two free throws to put his team up by six.
J.J. Culver connected for Wayland, but the Pioneers were unable to come up with a turnover and Sam Moore's layup for UMHB at the buzzer made for the final six-point margin.
Wayland missed three overtime free throws, going 5-for-8, which Harrelson said was costly.
"You have to hit your free throws down the stretch," the coach said. UMHB was 4-of-5 at the line in OT.
For the game, the Pioneers were 15-of-23 (65 percent), compared to 22-of-28 (79 percent) for the Crsuaders.
Throns led Wayland in scoring for the third straight game with 20, hitting 7-of-10 field goals including 5-of-6 3-pointers. Robertson was 0-for-7 from long range but still finished with 15 points while Culver added 14,
Jeremy Betjol 10, Doerue nine and
CJ Obinwa eight.
Robertson and Doerue pulled down eight rebounds each, Robertson tallied three blocks and three steals, and Doerue dished out five assists.
The Pioneers shot 43 percent (29-of-68) from the field, including 36 percent (11-of-31) from beyond the arc.
The Crusaders were led by Brian Long with 19 points before he fouled out. Lakendric Hyson and Moore added 17 each, while Cress and Martin put in 11 apiece. The Crusaders also shot 43 percent (31-of-73) from the field, 26 percent from long range (6-of-23).
Wayland outrebounded the Crusaders, 50-40, but had twice as many turnovers, 20-10.
It was an exhibition game for the Crusaders, who were playing their third home contest in four days, having defeated University of the Ozarks, 107-72, and UT-Tyler, 96-78. UMHB's lone loss has been to conference foe LeTourneau, 87-82.
The Pioneers, meanwhile, were in action for the third time since last Thursday, all road games having previously played in McPherson, Kan., and Langston, Okla.
"I'm not going to make excuses, but we have travelled a lot the last couple of days," Harrelson said.
Wayland is next in action at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 29 in an exhibition game against former Pioneers. WBU's next official game is Thursday, Jan. 3 in a Sooner Athletic Conference home game against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
Harrelson said he's mostly happy with what his team has done in the first half of the season.
"It was a good first half of the year for us. We're 3-1 in conference, which is good enough for the top four right now.
"We have to be very focused moving forward. That's what's going to get us to the national tournament.
"I feel pretty good about everything."
