ABILENE – Wayland Baptist rallied from a 26-point second-half deficit and wound up forcing three overtime periods before the No. 9 Pioneers fell to Hardin-Simmons on Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Complex, 113-108.
The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Wayland and dropped the Pioneers to 8-2. The game was designated as an exhibition for the Cowboys (4-6).
WBU trailed 62-36 less than five minutes into the second half and were still down by 25, 68-43, with 11½ minutes remaining. But the Pioneers outscored the Cowboys 31-8 over the next nine minutes to pull to within 76-74 with under two minutes to go.
A layup by Wayland's
Payton Havens made it 80-78 with 12 ticks showing, then after the Cowboys missed two free throws, the Pioneers tied it when
CJ Obinwa scored at the buzzer after an offensive rebound, forcing the first OT knotted at 80.
Wayland took its first lead since 7-5 when
Bonny Udoh hit a pair of free throws early in the second overtime. A 3-pointer by Obinwa put the Pioneers up 89-87 with 47 seconds left, then HSU's Steven Quinn tied it with two foul shots with 16 seconds left.
J.J. Culver was fouled and made one of two free throws with six ticks left, then HSU's Chris Barrett was fouled on a drive to the bucket with one second left. He made his first free throw but missed the second, forcing a second overtime tied at 90.
The Pioneers benefited from three 3-pointers over the next five minutes, the first from Udoh, the next from Fillmore then the last by Culver, who drained a contested bomb from in front of Wayland's bench at the buzzer that tied it at 102. Culver's clutch 3 came after HSU hit a field goal and two free throws on either side of a Pioneer turnover with under 22 seconds to go.
In the final overtime, Culver hit two free throws to give Wayland a 108-107 lead with 93 seconds left. The Cowboys' Chase Cobb nailed a 3-pointer – his only bucket of the game – then, after a missed shot for the Pioneers, added a free throw to put HSU up 111-108. After Wayland misfired on a 3, Kennan Holdman made a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left that all but sealed it for the Cowboys. Culver missed a 3 right before the final buzzer.
WBU senior
Jack Nobles led all scorers with a career-high 33 points, destroying his previous best this season of 19 and previous Wayland best of 23 from last season. Nobles, who fouled out midway through the first overtime, was a force around the basket, hitting 15-of-26 shots and pulling down six rebounds.
Obinwa, also a senior, finished with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting plus pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Pioneer. Fillmore tacked on a season-high 18 points, which was matched by Culver in his first game since scoring 100 in Wayland's last game on Dec. 10. Udoh, in his first game as a Pioneer after recently becoming eligible, finished with 10 points.
Quinn paced HSU with 28 points, followed by Kyle Brennon with 20, Layton Sharp and Trey Wooldridge with 17 each, and Holdman with 12.
Both teams shot close to 50 percent from the field, Wayland 49 percent (41-of-84) and HSU 48 percent (34-of-71). The Pioneers were 7-of-21 (33 percent) from 3-point range, where the Cowboys made 9-of-31 (29 percent). WBU hit 19-of-22 free throws (86 percent) and the Cowboys 36-of-46 (78 percent).
HSU held a 49-41 rebounding edge and had 18 turnovers, five more than the Pioneers.
The Pioneers return to Sooner Athletic Conference play, where they are 2-0 with road wins over Southwestern Christian and Oklahoma City, on Thursday night in Waxahachie where they take on Southwestern Assemblies of God. The Lions (8-2), ranked the equivalent of 32
nd in the NAIA, dropped their first two SAC games at John Brown, 65-60, and at home to Texas Wesleyan, 103-97.
