Box Score WAXAHACHIE – Wayland Baptist enjoyed a 22-point lead with 6½ minutes left, but Southwestern Assemblies of God University came roaring back and recorded a 108-106, double-overtime victory over the No. 20 Pioneers in a wild Sooner Athletic Conference game here Thursday night.
Wayland led 83-61 with 6:36 left and was still up by 10, 91-81, with 2:00 to go. The Lions quickly turned things in their favor with two 3-pointers and a 3-point play as part of a 9-1 run, making it a two-point game.
Josh Throns, who ended with 31 points for Wayland, and
Ruben Lopez hit two free throws apiece to make it 96-90 with :17 showing, but SAGU's Desmond Medder converted a 3-point play and, after two missed WBU free throws, Darney Sims – after being fouled on a 3-pointer – made three clutch free throws with 0.8 seconds.
In the first overtime of the season for WBU, the game was tied when Lopez missed a long 3-pointer before the shot clock expired with 28 seconds left. Sims then missed a contested left-handed layup just before the buzzer, forcing a second extra period.
After Sims hit a 3-pointer some 50 seconds in, SAGU never trailed again. Wayland's only points of the final overtime came on a bucket by
J.J. Culver with 2:12 left and on a free throw by
Trevonta Robertson with two seconds to go. Robertson's missed second foul shot was rebounded by Wayland's
Kraig Shields, but he was stripped on his way up for the potential bucket to force another OT, and the Lions pulled out the improbable win.
Wayland's undoing came at the free-throw line where the Pioneers hit 61 percent (25-of-41), although the Lions weren't much better at 63 percent (27-of-43). Wayland shot almost 50 percent (36-of-74) from the field, including 41 percent (9-of-22) from long range, compared to SAGU's 39 percent (33-of-85) and 36 percent (15-of-42) efforts.
The game saw a total of 45 turnovers – 23 by WBU and 22 by SAGU.
The loss dropped WBU (15-6, 7-5) into fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings, but still just 1½ games behind leaders No. 7 USAO, No. 15 Oklahoma City and No. 24 Texas Wesleyan. In another double-OT game Thursday, OCU defeated USAO on the road, 114-108.
Throns' 31 points, on 11-of-21 shooting include 5-of-11 3-pointers, were a season-high and just two off his career-best. Robertson and
Samuel Kalwanyi ended with 14 points each while Lopez,
Tyrone Davis and
Rokas Mazionis added 13 apiece.
SAGU, which fell to Wayland 80-72 when they squared off in Plainview Dec 2, also put six players in double figures, led by Cameron Hill with 21. Medder got 19 to go with 13 boards, while Sims chipped in 16.
Robertson and Throns pulled down 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively, giving each of them double-doubles.
Wayland is back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth against defending national champion Texas Wesleyan (15-7, 9-4), which rolled over Panhandle State on Thursday, 112-71. The Pioneers had no problem with the then No. 1-ranked Rams when they met in late November in Plainview, winning 90-61.
