WAXAHACHIE – The Southwestern Assemblies of God Lions were on a mission Thursday night in the Scheaffer Center as they handed sixth-ranked Wayland Baptist its first Sooner Athletic Conference loss of the season, 90-60.
Wayland (8-3, 2-1 SAC) led twice in the early going, and it was tied at 13 when SAGU (9-2, 1-2) hit a 3-pointer. The Pioneers never saw another lead.
Up 37-25 at halftime, the Lions, ranked the equivalent of No. 32, scored the first 12 points of the second half – including a pair of 3s – to take control. SAGU assumed a 24-point, 49-25 lead less than three minutes after the break.
The closest WBU got after that was 21; the Lions' largest lead was 32, 89-57.
While SAGU shot 53 percent (33-of-62) from the field, including 42 percent (11-of-26) from 3-point range, Wayland ended at 40 percent (23-of-58) overall and 29 percent (6-of-21) from beyond the arc. The Pioneers suffered 20 turnovers, eight more than SAGU.
Jack Nobles led Wayland with 17 points as he hit seven of the Pioneers' eight (of 16) free throws.
CJ Obinwa, with 11, was the only other Pioneer with more than seven points.
J.J. Culver finished with seven points and eight boards.
SAGU placed four in double-digits, led by Joshua Kashila with 18 and Kentton Williams with 17.
It was the second straight loss for Wayland, which fell to Hardin-Simmons on Dec. 28 in Abilene, 113-108 in triple overtime.
Next for the Pioneers is a 3:45 p.m. contest Saturday in Fort Worth against No. 22 Texas Wesleyan (9-3, 2-1), which demolished Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 90-50. That was the Rams' first game since a 138-127 double-overtime loss to Our Lady of the Lake Dec. 17. Besides OPSU, Texas Wesleyan's other SAC games have been a 103-97 road win over SAGU and a 95-91 road loss against John Brown.
The Pioneers swept Texas Wesleyan last season.
