J.J. Culver scored a career-high 41 points to lead third-ranked Wayland Baptist to an 85-64 victory over McMurry University in the final game of the McDonald's Tip-Off Classic on Friday night in Hutcherson Center.
After putting in 34 in Thursday's season-opening 100-51 win over Arlington Baptist, Culver topped that by hitting 17-of-32 field goals, including 4-of-10 3-pointers, while making 3-of-6 free throws. The senior guard also came up with seven rebounds to tie for team-high honors.
Culver's 41 – including 29 in the first half – bettered his previous best of 36 from his freshman season.
In Friday's first game, Oklahoma-Panhandle State also won its second game, 76-70 over Arlington Baptist. The Aggies nipped McMurry on Thursday, 82-80.
Wayland's game against McMurry started out much the same way as the Pioneers' debut, in runaway fashion. But unlike Arlington Baptist, McMurry rallied and made the Pioneers earn their triumph.
WBU went up 15-1 and lead by as many as 25 points, 39-14, with just over two minutes left in the first half. The Pioneers were on top at intermission, 39-18.
But the War Hawks scored the first 11 points of the second half to give them 15 unanswered points, and suddenly Wayland's lead was only 10.
McMurry continued climbing back in it and cut the margin to just three at 40-37, completing an unlikely 23-1 run.
The Pioneers never surrendered the lead, however, although it went to as low as one, 43-42. From there,
CJ Obinwa hit a 3-pointer, and Culver added a bucket and free throw to slow the War Hawks a bit.
Wayland regrew its lead to a dozen points, but McMurry didn't give up, cutting it back to 5, 61-56 with 5:45 to play. Pioneer
Tre Fillmore responded with a 3-pointer, then shortly afterwards added another, as did
Jordan Brannon. That helped Wayland stretch the lead to 15, 74-59.
The Pioneers grew the margin to as many as 23 right before the final buzzer.
Fillmore ended the game with 17 points, all but two of which came in the second half.
Wayland shot 44 percent (31-of-70) from the field, hitting 9-of-26 3-pointers (35 percent). The Pioneers hit 14-of-26 free throws (54 percent).
McMurry, which was led by Khalil Butler's 15 points, shot just 24 percent from the field (6-of-25) in the first half before making 16-of-30 (53 percent) after halftime. The War Hawks, who after being held to 18 first-half points went for 46 in the second half, hit 11-of-25 3s (44 percent) and 9-of-14 foul shots (64 percent).
Freshman
Payton Havens provided eight of Wayland's 17 assists, while Obinwa got five assists.
Next up for Wayland is a trip to Hobbs, N.M., to take on University of the Southwest at 8 p.m. (CST) Tuesday. The Mustangs are 1-2, having defeated Northern New Mexico, 83-74, before falling to Sooner Athletic Conference members Oklahoma City, 70-68, and Texas Wesleyan, 73-62. USW takes on another SAC school, Panhandle State, in Goodwell on Saturday.
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