Box Score
Ty Harrelson certainly hoped his Wayland Baptist Pioneers would be enjoying a comfortable enough lead that he could pull his seniors late in Saturday afternoon's regular-season finale to allow the Hutcherson Center fans to show their appreciation for the four outgoing Pioneers.
Having lost to John Brown by 22 points earlier this season, however, Harrelson wasn't making any promises.
But the coach got his wish as the Pioneers surged late to record a 76-61 victory over the Golden Eagles, allowing
Ruben Lopez,
Tyrone Davis,
Samuel Kalwanyi and
Marko Zelic a chance to exit the game early.
More importantly, the win guaranteed the Pioneers (21-8, 13-7 SAC) a home game in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. That contest will take place at 8 p.m. Tuesday – after the Flying Queens' first-round game at 6 – in the Hutch against an opponent to be determined Sunday after the postponed game between Oklahoma City and Texas Wesleyan.
"This is what we played for. Finishing in the top four gives you a really good shot at an at-large bid into the national tournament," Harrelson said. "This is one of the first times we've had a post-season game at the Hutch. It's exciting and something new for us. I hope we can get a lot of people out for it."
If the Pioneers win Tuesday they'll advance as one of four teams to Siloam Springs, Ark., where John Brown will host the semifinals and finals.
"We've won six out of our last seven and are one of the hottest teams in the league right now," Harrelson said.
Against John Brown (16-13, 10-10), the Pioneers fell behind by seven early but rallied to take a 26-25 lead with 3:47 left in the first half, and they never trailed again.
The Golden Eagles trimmed it to two, 38-36, less than two minutes into the second half, but the Pioneers scored eight straight points to stretch the lead to double digits. The closest JBU came after that was five, then Wayland secured the victory with a late 10-0 run, most of which came courtesy of Lopez at the free-throw line.
Lopez ended with a game-high 19 points, including 11-of-12 free-throws. He hit 5-of-6 foul shots in the final 2 minutes, when
Josh Throns and
Kraig Shields got two each and Kalwanyi one.
"Ruben didn't have his best shooting day today, but he got himself to the free-throw line when the game got down to five or six. He also found Josh about that time and Josh hit a big 3.
"Ruben controlled the clock for the last five minutes or so. We didn't score every time but we were able to reduce John Brown's possessions.
"I thought our defense was really tough."
Following Lopez's 19 were four Pioneers – Davis, Kalwayni, Throns and
Trevonta Robertson – with 11 points each.
"We had five guys in double figures, so we had good balance on offense," Harrelson said.
Kalwanyi ended with a game-high nine rebounds, again coming up just shy of what would have been his sixth double-double.
Leading JBU with 23 points was Josh Bowling, followed by Marquis Waller with 12. No other Golden Eagle had more than seven, including Jake Caudle, his team's leading scorer averaging 18.6 ppg.
"We were able to slow Caudle down. That's a credit to our guys knowing the scouting report and making it really tough on them," Harrelson said.
JBU shot 35 percent from the field (20-of-57), including 7-of-29 (24 percent) from 3-point range.
"They shot the ball really well at their place," Harrelson said when asked about the difference between Wayland's 86-64 loss in Siloam Springs and Saturday's 15-point victory. "Again, I thought our defense was great the whole game."
Harrelson ended by thanking his four seniors "for their commitment to the program.
"Tyrone and Ruben have been here all three years with me. To see them have success is always enjoyable; they work really hard for it.
"Sammy been through a lot personally and come through it like a winner, and Marko came in and accepted his role. He plays really hard and has a great disposition. He's a great team guy.
"I'm glad they get one more game in front of the home crowd."
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