LANGSTON, Okla. – The Wayland Baptist Pioneers arrived in Langston having played three overtime games in their last five outings. That made Saturday's lopsided 80-45 victory over Langston all the more appreciated.
A dozen Pioneers scored – led by
Chinedu Okonkwo who ended with 16 points and 12 rebounds – as Wayland (6-3, 5-2) rolled to a Sooner Athletic Conference win over outmatched Langston (0-6, 0-6).
The Pioneers – who were coming off Thursday's 79-75 overtime win at Central Christian – led 48-15 at the half.
"The team played well together this week," WBU coach
Ty Harrelson said. "Today we played great defense, especially in the first half."
Wayland shot 56 percent from the field (19-of-34) in the first half, including 4-of-9 3-pointers. The Pioneers hit only 1-of-8 3s in the second half and only 7-of-20 free throws for the game, but it didn't really matter.
Besides Okonkwo, who secured his second straight double-double, also scoring in double figures were
Devin Avent with 12,
Tre Fillmore with 11 and
Hunter Henderson with 10.
Wayland turned the ball over just 12 times.
Langston, which had only seven players see action, got 20 points from TaMarcus Butler.
"Coach (Landon) Hughey did a great job preparing us, and
Jack Nobles had our big guys going all weekend," Harrelson said. "It's the time of the season when players make plays to help win games. We are in good position at 5-2 in SAC play."
The Pioneers are back in Plainview for their next game, 6 p.m. Thursday against 15
th-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God University (4-1, 3-1). Wayland defeated the then No. 22 Lions, 93-83 in overtime, on Jan. 11 in Waxahachie. The Lions have played only twice since then, beating both John Brown (75-72) and USAO (99-82).
"We hope everyone will come to the Hutch to cheer us on," Harrelson said.
