FORT WORTH – Wayland Baptist trailed by 11 points with 8½ minutes left, but an impressive rally helped the ninth-ranked Pioneers to an 81-73 victory over Texas Wesleyan here Thursday night.
"We had to dig deep to get that one," WBU coach
Ty Harrelson said.
The first-time
Sooner Athletic Conference champion Pioneers (24-6, 18-3 SAC), who scored the first 10 points of the game and led by as many as 13 in the first half, found themselves trailing, 64-53. From there, Wayland outscored the Rams (13-16, 8-13) 28-9 to come away with their fifth-straight conference win.
"Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to figure out how to get it done, but our guys never stopped believing," Harrelson said.
Trevonta Robertson scored 21 points to lead Wayland, which was coming off Tuesday's 85-66 exhibition loss to NCAA Division I Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Josh Throns, one of the top free-throw shooters in the nation, went 9-for-9 at the foul stripe, including many clutch ones down the stretch, and finished with 18 points.
J.J. Culver tacked on a dozen points while C.J. Obinwa and
Jack Nobles put in nine apiece. Nobles' seven rebounds paced the Pioneers.
Three straight 3-pointers – two by Throns and one by Culver – quickly allowed Wayland back in the game after trailing by 11.
"(Texas Wesleyan) was hitting 3s and had some guys make great plays," Harrelson said. "We got our defense settled and started getting some stops."
Throns was fouled on another 3-point try and made all three free throws. After a bucket by Robertson, a 3-pointer by Obinwa put Wayland up 73-70 with 1:30 to go, the Pioneers' first lead since the 8:28 mark of the first half.
"I thought
Chris Doerue did a great job finding our shooters," Harrelson said. "He was penetrating into their zone and making great decisions. And Trevonta, CJ and Josh started to get going."
Robertson connected again and Throns tacked on two more foul shots to complete a 12-0 run that saw Wayland go from being down five with 2:48 showing to leading by seven with 32 seconds to go.
Throns closed it out by hitting four more free throws.
"Josh did a great job knocking down free throws at the end," Harrelson said.
Wayland made all 11 of its foul shots; Nobles and Robertson hit one each in addition to Throns' nine. The Pioneers shot 40 percent (12-of-30) from 3-point range, where Robertson nailed four, Obinwa and Throns three each, and Culver two.
"It was another good team win," Harrelson said.
The Rams, who previously lost to Wayland in Plainview, 68-52, placed four players in double figures, led by Peyton Sallee's 17.
Just as they ended the game with a big run, the Pioneers also started with one, taking a 19-6 lead.
"We started out really well," Harrelson said. "They were playing a match-up zone, and
Jack Nobles really played well in those opening minutes. But he picked up his second and third fouls on almost back-to-back plays, and then we had a little bit of a lapse when he went out.
"Once we got things figured out we started playing even with them."
Wayland finished with 10 more rebounds than Wesleyan, 39-29, and outscored the Rams in the paint, 30-20. The Pioneers committed 11 first-half turnovers, but only four after intermission.
"We had some frustrating times, whether it was turnovers on us or them hitting tough shots," Harrelson said. "Once we started taking care of the basketball we were able to cut down our turnovers. That definitely helps."
The Pioneers wrap up the regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday in Waxahachie against Southwestern Assemblies of God (19-10, 12-9), a team they beat at home on Jan. 3, 92-71. SAGU defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 84-76.
The Pioneers will host a first-round game in the SAC Tournament at 8 p.m. Tuesday against an undetermined opponent. The semifinals and finals of the tourney will be held next weekend at Oklahoma City University.
"We're excited," Harrelson said. "I'm glad the guys are finishing the regular-season the right way."
