BETHANY, Okla. –
Ty Harrelson and the third-ranked Wayland Baptist Pioneers began defense of their Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball title on a positive note here Thursday, defeating Southwestern Christian, 77-65.
"I thought we were really tough and played really hard," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said. "Southwestern Christian is a good team; they only had one loss coming into the game. We had to battle to win it. I'm really proud of all of them. It was a good team win."
Jack Nobles led the Pioneers (5-1, 1-0) in scoring with 19 and rebounding with 10 for the senior's fourth career double-double and first this season.
J.J. Culver added 17 points along with seven boards and five steals, while
CJ Obinwa tacked on a dozen points and
Tre Fillmore 10.
Harrelson said those four returners really came through.
"Our four returners from last year all scored in double-figures. That experience definitely helped us win the game," the coach said. "Those guys know what it takes to go on the road and win. I thought Jack was a beast, and CJ and Tre both hit timely shots and played good defense. J.J. didn't shoot that well tonight but had a great stat line.
"They led the way for us, then we had really solid minutes from the rest of the group."
Southwestern Christian (4-2, 0-1) was led by the 26 points and 10 rebounds of Derek Dantzler-Fulner. Terrance Reese added 10 points.
Wayland almost led from start to finishing, relinquishing the lead just once at 20-19. A 3-pointer by Fillmore put the Pioneers back on top, and they never trailed again.
After falling behind, Wayland went on a 16-4 run to assume an 11-point lead, although the Eagles cut it to 4 before Obinwa drilled a buzzer 3-pointer to make it 41-34 at halftime.
The Pioneers built a 13-point lead, 51-38, early in the second half and slowly extended it to 18, 70-52, with just under five minutes to play.
Wayland won despite not shooting particularly well: 37 percent (26-of-70) from the field, 5-of-21 (24 percent) from 3-point range and 15-of-23 (65 percent) from the free-throw line. The Eagles were better in two of the three (41 percent, 21-of-51, from the field and 83 percent, 19-of-23, from the foul line), but hit just 4-of-18 (22 percent) from beyond the arc.
Harrelson said the Pioneers missed six lay-ups in the first half then a breakaway dunk in the second. He chalked it up to opening-night of conference nerves.
"Hopefully we'll settle in and make some of those as we go through conference."
The Pioneers held a 38-35 rebounding edge, including 15-6 on the offensive end, and realized a big advantage in turnovers, committing 18 compared to 27 for the Eagles. Wayland ended with 14 steals, their most since midway through the 2017-18 season.
"It comes down to defense, which is the identity of this team," Harrelson said, adding that assistant coaches
Landon Hughey and
Adrian Davila deserve big assists. "Coach Hughey did a really good job of helping me manage the game. And this was Coach Davila's scout, so he helped have our guys prepared for tonight."
Next on Wayland's schedule is a trip to Oklahoma City to take on the Stars (6-2, 1-0), who opened conference with a 73-41 drumming of Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday. OCU, ranked the equivalent of 34th in the NAIA under first-year coach Stan Holt (previously at Langston), had dropped two of its last three before Thursday, 84-79 in overtime to Our Lady of the Lake and 70-67 to Randall University. Both the Pioneers (64-56) and Stars (70-68) own wins over University of the Southwest.
"It's always tough at OCU," Harrelson said. "We have to prepare (Friday) to try to get this sweep on the road."
