ABILENE – In just their second outing of the unusual season and in their final tune-up before conference play begins, the Wayland Baptist Pioneers fell short against Hardin-Simmons at the Mabee Complex here Saturday afternoon, 85-70.
Playing for the first time since their season-opener Oct. 30 and after 13 games were cancelled due to COVID-19 issues, Wayland (1-1) made the first two points of the game, but that was the Pioneers' only lead as the Cowboys (5-2) scored the next seven and never surrendered the lead. WBU went down by nine but on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers by
Tre Fillmore and
Devin Avent pulled to within 20-18 midway through the first period.
HSU then scored 10 unanswered points and stretched the margin to 16, 51-35, by halftime.
Wayland cut it to nine, 56-47, but the Cowboys answered with a 9-0 run to again distance themselves. The margin stayed between 12 and 19 points the rest of the way.
The Pioneers were led by the fresman Avent's 16 points, all but two of which came in the first half.
Chinedu Okonkwo added 10 points and nine rebounds, Fillmore nine points,
Javorian Miller eight, and Jacon Recer and
Thad Udoh seven each. WBU shot 43 percent (25-of-58) from the field, including 3-of-10 3-pointers, and hit 17-of-27 free throws (63 percent).
Kyle Brennon put in 20 points to lead HSU, which shot 50 percent from the field and made 4-of-14 3s and 23-of-30 foul shots. Aidan Walsh added 17 points and Steven Quinn 13.
Wayland turned the ball over 19 times, while the Cowboys gave it away 16 times. The Cowboys outscored the Pioneers in the fast-break scoring category, 33-8.
WBU opens Sooner Athletic Conference play at 3 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth against Texas Wesleyan (3-0). That will be the Rams' first game since Nov. 5.
