GOODWELL, Okla. – Wayland Baptist put on a shooting clinic here Tuesday night as the ninth-ranked Pioneers hit 66 percent from the field and missed only two of 17 free throws in posting a 97-87 victory over Oklahoma-Panhandle State.
"I thought we played really well tonight. To go into their place and win was a really good road win for us," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
The win gave the
Sooner Athletic Conference-leading Pioneers 20 wins for the fifth time in the past six seasons and also clinched a home game in the first-round of the SAC Tournament.
"Normally we judge a very successful season by 20 wins," Harrelson said. "I'm really proud of my staff and players for reaching it again and doing it with a character and culture that we can be proud of."
Trevonta Robertson scored 22 points, including 11 straight during a crucial stage in the second half, and
J.J. Culver added 20 as the Pioneers (20-6, 15-3 SAC), who jumped one spot in the
NAIA Top 25 released earlier in the day, maintained their 3-game lead atop the Sooner Athletic Conference. OPSU fell to 14-10, 9-9.
CJ Obinwa, who sat out most of Saturday's game at Bacone with an early injury, finished with a career-high 16 points, eclipsing his previous-best of 13 back on Nov. 21.
Jack Nobles added 15 and
Josh Throns 12.
"We moved the ball really well and played really well together. I thought it was a really good team game," Harrelson said. "Jack really started us off by being aggressive and putting pressure on them underneath. From there everyone else really kept pressure on them in transition, and we were able to get some fast-break layups."
Wayland hit 38-of-58 field goals, including 6-of-12 3-pointers, and shot 88 percent from the foul line. Robertson finished 7-of-10 from the field, Culver 8-of-11, Obinwa 6-of-9 and Throns 5-of-6. Robertson paced the foul shooting by going 6-of-7 at the stripe.
The 97 points were Wayland's second-highest total of the season, behind only a 106-74 win over then-No. 12 Langston on Jan. 31 in Plainview.
Wayland's lead was just three, 65-62, at the midway point of the second half when Robertson exploded. In less than two minutes, he scored after an offensive rebound, hit a 3-pointer, made a traditional 3-point play then nailed another 3 as he went on a personal 11-point run and expanded the Pioneers' lead to 76-62.
But the Aggies rallied, reducing what became a 16-point deficit to just five, 89-84, with 1:27 to go.
"OPSU hit some really tough shots to keep it close," Harrelson said.
From there, the Pioneers got it back together as Obinwa and Throns made back-to-back buckets and Culver and Obinwa hit four free throws in a row to seal it.
"Panhandle is really explosive offensively; they really can shoot the 3. We struggled to stop them, but in crunch time when we needed to get stops we were able to," Harrelson said.
Wayland held the NAIA's top scorer, Breiman Alexander, to 13 points, almost half his average of 24.7 ppg. Alexander made just 1-of-6 3-pointers.
"Trevonta guarded him for a big portion of the game, then when we rotated other guys on him they kept up the pressure," Harrelson said.
OPSU was led by Khallid Edwards and Alan Hodge Jr. with 19 points each, although Hodge was held to just three after intermission. "We did a good job defending him in the second half."
The contest ended the Pioneers' 3-game road swing. Wayland next hosts Southwestern Christian (13-13, 8-10) at 8 p.m. Thursday. The Eagles, who have dropped six of their last seven games, were edge by Wayland, 77-75, when the teams met Jan. 12 in Bethany.
A win Thursday would clinch at least a share of what would be the Pioneers' first-ever regular-season SAC championship.
"We need everyone to come out and support us Thursday. We clinched homecourt in the first round (of the conference tournament) tonight, and one more win clinches at least a co-championship. That would be pretty exciting. Hopefully we can get it done."
NOTE: Harrelson thanked athletic trainers
Brooke Miller and
Landon Schumacher for what they mean to the team. "Brooke and Landon do a great job of getting our guys out there healthy. They play a big part in our success."
2018-19 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Poll 5 (Feb. 12, 2019)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) [8] |
24-2 |
219 |
| 2 |
3 |
Benedictine (Kan.) [1] |
22-2 |
212 |
| 3 |
5 |
Missouri Baptist |
25-1 |
204 |
| 4 |
8 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
24-3 |
199 |
| 5 |
9 |
Stillman (Ala.) |
23-2 |
188 |
| 6 |
4 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
22-3 |
185 |
| 7 |
2 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
21-5 |
172 |
| 8 |
6 |
Tougaloo (Miss.) |
20-4 |
169 |
| 9 |
10 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
19-6 |
162 |
| 10 |
7 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
21-5 |
157 |
| 11 |
16 |
Pikeville (Ky.) |
21-5 |
142 |
| 12 |
15 |
Wiley (Texas) |
18-5 |
140 |
| 13 |
18 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
20-6 |
135 |
| 14 |
11 |
Peru State (Neb.) |
17-6 |
134 |
| 15 |
13 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
18-7 |
118 |
| 16 |
14 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
18-6 |
107 |
| 17 |
18 |
William Jessup (Calif.) |
18-7 |
102 |
| 18 |
NR |
Oklahoma City |
17-7 |
94 |
| 19 |
20 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
20-6 |
85 |
| 20 |
23 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
18-9 |
84 |
| 21 |
17 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
18-7 |
77 |
| 22 |
25 |
Providence (Mont.) |
17-8 |
70 |
| 23 |
21 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
18-8 |
67 |
| 24 |
24 |
Arizona Christian |
20-5 |
58 |
| 25 |
NR |
Dillard (La.) |
15-7 |
46 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Langston (Okla.), Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
Others Receiving Votes: Campbellsville (Ky.) 44, St. Thomas (Texas) 32, Science & Arts (Okla.) 27, Hope International (Calif.) 23, Talladega (Ala.) 17, Langston (Okla.) 13, Westmont (Calif.) 7, Loyola (La.) 3.
