Wayland Baptist scored the last seven points of the game over the final 31 seconds to pull out a much-needed 74-71 Sooner Athletic Conference win over Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon at Hutcherson Center.
"It was a grind-it-out game, most of them are in this conference," Wayland coach
Ty Harrelson said of the victory over the team ranked 13
th in the NAIA preseason poll. "It went our way today, which was nice."
The gutsy victory snapped defending conference champion Wayland's four-game losing skid, the longest for the Pioneers (9-5, 3-3 SAC) in four years.
After leading by six midway through the second half, the ninth-ranked Pioneers trailed 71-67 a minute-and-a-half to play. But Wayland went on to outscore the visiting Drovers 7-0 from that point on.
Gage Hulse hit a 3-pointer for his only points of the game, then the freshman who played only four minutes stole the inbounds pass, which led to a pair of clutch free throws by
J.J. Culver, who was fouled after losing control of the ball near the top of the key, that gave Wayland a one-point lead with 20 seconds left.
USAO leading scorer Dylan Causwell missed an off-balance, in-lane jumper on the other end, which Culver rebounded. The senior all-American was fouled again and went to the free-throw line where he made the first of two to make it 73-71 with 10 seconds left. Culver missed his second free throw, but
Jibrael Washington came up with a huge offensive rebound for the Pioneers. He, too, was fouled and, with eight ticks left, left made the first of two free throws – the junior's first point of the game – to make it a three-point lead.
After rebounding the missed second free throw and calling timeout, USAO – still with eight seconds to go – opted to throw the ball from under Wayland's basketball to midcourt. But Wayland's
Tre Fillmore came up with it and dribbled out the clock.
"What an exciting game," Harrelson said.
The coach attributed the win to clutch play from returners
Jack Nobles, Culver and Fillmore. Nobles ended with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Fillmore put in 17 points, and Culver got 15 points and 10 boards. It was Culver's first double-double of the season and the second for Nobles, who now has five for his career.
"They were able to step up and make plays," said Harrelson, who stressed Wayland's 19-of-22 performance from the free throw line. That 86 percent effort – paced by Nobles going 8-of-8 – was a drastic improvement from Thursday's 11-of-24 showing (46 percent) in a 73-58 loss to third-ranked Mid-America Christian.
Conversely, USAO shot just 55 percent (12-of-22) from the foul stripe.
Harrelson also said his team's defense was much better than what it had been over the last four games.
"I really think it's all about our defense. All four games and even the first half tonight we gave up too many (points), but we held them to 27 in the second half."
The coach also praised his team's overall effort.
"Even if we had lost, I thought the fight was better than what we showed last week. USAO is a tough team. We need to protect our home-court."
The Drovers have now lost to No. 3 MACU (98-86), No. 10 John Brown (70-55) and No. 9 Wayland in their last four games, separated by a 96-56 win over Oklahoma-Panhandle State.
USAO was led by Causwell with 17 points, Colen Gaynor with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Trenton Sandifer with 12 points and 10 boards, and Stephon Hall with 10 points.
Both teams hit nine 3-pointers, with seven different players hitting treys for Wayland.
The game saw both teams go on numerous streaks, starting when the Pioneers opened the game by scoring seven straight before USAO answered with nine of its own. USAO's run was part of a 20-4 that allowed the Drovers to open a 20-11 lead.
Wayland fell behind by as many as 11. The Pioneers cut it to six, 44-38 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 11-2 spurt that put the home team up 49-46.
CJ Obinwa scored the first four points of the run while
Payton Havens accounted for the final five.
The second half featured nine lead changes.
The Pioneers return to the road next week to take on Langston (10-4, 3-2) on Thursday night and Central Christian (7-7, 0-6) Saturday afternoon. Langston has won three of four since returning from Christmas, over Oklahoma City (88-85), Central Christian (82-75) and Bacone (90-56). Before the break, the Lions topped then-No. 13 USAO (102-89)
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