Pioneers shoot lights out in tourney quarterfinal win over USAO

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All five starters scored in double figures as the red hot-shooting Wayland Baptist Pioneers prevailed in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night in Hutcherson Center, defeating Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 86-73.

Playing his final game in the Hutch, senior Ruben Lopez scored 18 points and dished out 11 assists for his first career double-double. Samuel Kalwanyi tacked on 17 points, J.J. Culver and Tyrone Davis got 11 each, and Trevonta Robertson ended with 12. Josh Throns came up a point shy of giving Wayland six double-digit scorers.

"All the starters shot the ball well," WBU coach Ty Harrelson said. "J.J. played a great game, Tyrone was almost unstoppable, and Ruben… The kid is just amazing. That's an incredible double-double: 18 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers."

Ranked the equivalent of 26^th in the NAIA, the third-seeded Pioneers (22-8) shot 65 percent from the field (32-of-49), with Davis going 6-for-7, Kalwanyi 6-for-8 and Lopez 6-for-9. Culver was 7-for-11 and Robertson 4-for-5.

Wayland hit half of its 3-points shots (11-for-22) as Robertson was perfect on four attempts and Lopez 3-for-5. Oddly, the Pioneers struggled from the free-throw line where they shot just 44 percent (11-of-25).

Winners of seven of their last eight, the Pioneers had Tuesday's game under control almost from the start. Sixth-seeded USAO (21-10), which was ranked No. 16 in the NAIA before falling out of the polls earlier in the day, led for the game's first two minutes before a 3-pointer by Culver put Wayland up 7-5.

The Pioneers never trailed again.

Wayland doubled up the Drovers at 20-10 then went up by as many as 16 before settling for a 13-point, 51-38 halftime lead.

"I feel like we had a really good game plan," said Harrelson, who credited assistants Landon Hughey, Xavier Webb and Maurice Redmond. "They did a really good job of having the guys prepared for what USAO was going to do – knowing their offenses and knowing where we could get good shots against them."

The closest USAO came in the second half was eight, 68-60 with just over seven minutes left. It was a nine-point spread when Robertson nailed a 3-pointer at the 2-minute mark, then Culver converted a steal into a fast-break layup to all but seal it. A fast-break dunk by Culver 30 seconds later did seal it.

It was Wayland's second win over USAO in 10 days. The Pioneers won Feb. 17 in Chickasha, Okla., 92-81 in overtime, after winning in the first-round of conference play, 96-74.

The game marked the final home contest for seniors Lopez, Davis, Kalwanyi and Marco Zelic, and the Pioneers celebrated at midcourt afterwards.
"There are a lot of good memories for Ruben, Tyrone and Sammy, and Marko, too, even though he's only been here a year. They did it the right way. We usually go to the locker room to celebrate, but I thought we could do it out on the court this time."

The win sends Wayland to Siloam Springs, Ark., where John Brown University will host the semifinals and finals this weekend. The Pioneers take on No. 9 Oklahoma City (23-7), the No. 2 seed and a 66-63 winner over Mid-America Christian, at 8 p.m. Friday, after top-seeded, 15^th-ranked Texas Wesleyan (22-9) meets fourth-seeded, 24^th-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (22-9) at 6. Defending national champion Texas Wesleyan defeated John Brown, 90-78, while SAGU eliminated Southwestern Christian, 96-79.

Friday's winners advance to the tournament championship at 4 p.m. Saturday. The winner receives an automatic bid into the NAIA National Tournament, set for March 14-20 in Kansas City, Mo.

Harrelson wants the automatic berth but with Tuesday's win said he feels the Pioneers have done enough to earn at least an at-large invitation to nationals.

"Not being ranked going into the game I felt we really needed a win and didn't want to leave it up to the voters to get into the national tournament. That's a good win for us in terms of pushing up into the rankings. I thought before tonight we had done enough, but now I definitely feel like we've won our way in, which is exciting.

"I'm very proud of our team. They are high-character guys. When our backs were against the wall this year, we won the games we had to win and finished strong."

The Pioneers now face an OCU team with which they split during the regular season, falling on the road 79-70 then most recently winning at home, 80-78.

"Their players are really talented, which always makes for tough competition," Harrelson said. "If we play as well as we did today and the last couple of weeks, we'll have a chance against probably anybody in the country. We just have to execute down the stretch…and we have to shoot free throws better."

2017 – 18 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 6 (Feb. 27)

RANK	LAST WEEK^	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2017-18 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	The Master's (Calif.) (8)	27-2	219
2	2	LSU Shreveport (La.)	27-3	206
3	3	Pikeville (Ky.) (1)	27-3	205
4	3	William Penn (Iowa)	26-3	203
5	5	Columbia (Mo.)	27-3	191
6	6	Carroll (Mont.)	25-5	185
7	7	Central Methodist (Mo.)	26-4	175
8	13	Hope International (Calif.)	25-4	167
T9	11	Georgetown (Ky.)	24-5	155
T9	12	Oklahoma City	22-7	155
11	10	Montana Western	23-6	153
12	14	William Carey (Miss.)	22-5	149
13	18	LSU Alexandria (La.)	23-7	134
14	8	Westmont (Calif.)	22-6	129
15	20	Texas Wesleyan	21-9	124
16	15	Dalton State (Ga.)	22-7	108
17	T24	Cumberlands (Ky.)	21-8	104
18	19	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	22-8	87
19	T16	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	20-10	82
20	NR	Dillard (La.)	18-9	81
21	21	Life (Ga.)	20-10	79
22	T22	Central Baptist (Ark.)	20-7	74
23	T24	Graceland (Iowa)	20-10	64
24	NR	SAGU (Texas)	21-9	56
25	T22	Xavier (La.)	21-7	52

Others Receiving Votes: Wayland Baptist (Texas) 48; Campbellsville (Ky.) 26; Wiley (Texas) 22; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 19; Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 18; Science & Arts (Okla.) 12; Vanguard (Calif.) 6; Missouri Baptist 3.

Dropped Out: No. 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), No. 16 (tie) Science & Arts (Okla.) 

^ Previous ranking occurred Feb. 13, 2018 (Poll No. 5)