MUSKOGEE, Okla. –
Josh Throns joined Wayland Baptist's prestigious 1,000-point club and helped Wayland Baptist's 10
th-ranked Pioneers to an 82-75 victory over Bacone College in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon.
The win helped right Wayland's ship after Thursday's setback at No. 21 John Brown, which fell to Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Saturday, and stretched the Pioneers' lead atop the
conference standings.
"We played well today and I'm proud of our guys for bouncing back," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said.
Throns finished with 15 points, one behind
Trevonta Robertson's team-high 16.
J.J. Culver finished with 13,
Rokas Mazionis a season-high matching 12 and
Jack Nobles 10 as the Pioneers (19-6, 14-3 SAC) staved off repeated comebacks by the last-place Warriors (2-11, 0-18).
"To have five guys in double-figures and another (
Spencer Lindsey) with eight is great team basketball," Harrelson said.
Bacone's last rally, after Wayland led by 24 points with 6½ minutes left in the second half, saw the Warriors score 18 straight points to pull within six, 78-72, with 1:54 to go.
Mazionis ended WBU's 4 1/2-minute dry spell with a bucket, and later Bacone missed on a pair of 3-pointers that would have cut it to four. Robertson then hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to go to ice it. The Warriors did sink one more 3 before Culver hit another foul shot to end the scoring.
Throns, who transferred to Wayland as a sophomore, went into the game with 998 points, and it only took him about 40 seconds after he stepped on the floor to hit a 3-pointer and become the 41st member of the 1,000-point club.
"Congratulations to Josh on scoring his 1,000
th point today," Harrelson said. "It's a great achievement by a great scorer, and we are all happy for him."
The senior from Australia will be honored prior to the Pioneers' next home game on Thursday against Southwestern Christian, after WBU's game Tuesday night at Oklahoma-Panhandle State (13-10, 8-9 SAC), which won at John Brown on Saturday, 85-70. WBU defeated OPSU in their first meeting, 82-76.
On Saturday, against a team Wayland topped 90-77 in Plainview last month, the Pioneers built a 16-point, 31-15 lead in the first half before Bacone cut it to five, 37-32. WBU regained momentum before intermission with a 7-0 half-ending run and led it at the break by a dozen, 44-32.
The second half went much the same way, with the Warriors able to cut it to five early on before the Pioneers rebuilt their lead prior to the tight finish.
WBU suffered 21 turnovers, compared to Bacone's 15, but held a 35-27 edge on the boards.
"We still ended with too many turnovers," said Harrelson, whose team gave it away 24 times at JBU Thursday. "Thankfully, our big guys dominated the paint."
The Pioneers shot 53 percent from the field (27-of-51), including 44 percent (8-of-18) from 3-point range. Wayland hit 20-of-28 free throws (71 percent). Mazionis went 5-of-5 from the field as he reached 12 points for the third time this season and got into double-digits for the first time in 16 games.
Harrelson praised
Chris Doerue, who played 28 minutes after starter
CJ Obinwa was injured early.
"Chris stepped up and ran our system well in CJ's absence."
Bacone, led by Ahjae Johnson's 19 points, hit 8-of-22 3-pointers (36 percent) and shot 48 percent overall (28-of-59) while going 11-of-17 at the foul line (65 percent).
