LANGSTON, Okla. – Unbeaten Langston went up by 11 points in the first 10 minutes and Wayland Baptist never caught up as the Lions prevailed in a showdown of NAIA Top 25 teams here Monday, 86-74.
 
Wayland (7-3, 3-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) was within three, 19-16, when Langston (12-0, 7-0) scored eight straight points. The Lions led by 16 early in the second half, but the Pioneers cut their deficit in half to get within 60-52 with just under 13 minutes to play.
 
That's as close as WBU got, however, as the Lions closed it out mostly at the free-throw line, where Langston hit 30-of-36 (83 percent), including an 11-of-11 performance from AJ Rainey. Wayland was 17-of-25 (68 percent) at the foul stripe.
 
The Pioneers were led by RJ Mason and Parrish Hewitt, who ended with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Tedrick Wolfe added 14 on 7-of-8 shooting, while Dylan McDougal added 10.
 
Langston, whose subs outscored Wayland's 30-4, got 22 points from Tristan Harper, who was 8-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Rainey was good for 13 points, all but two of which came from the foul line, while D'Monte Brown and Chereef Knox got 12 points each off the bench. A fifth Lion, Anthony White, put in 10 points.
 
WBU was credited with just 19 rebounds as Langston shot 57 percent (25-of-44) from the field. The Pioneers hit 51 percent (24-of-47) of theirs.
 
Wayland will look to end a two-game slide Thursday when it closes out the 2022 conference portion of its schedule in Goodwell, Okla., against Oklahoma-Panhandle State (1-11, 0-6), which fell to Langston on Saturday, 102-59. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.