FORT WORTH – Wayland Baptist took a 13-point second-half lead before 18th-ranked LSU-Shreveport rallied, and the Pilots did enough down the stretch to pull out a 92-90 victory over the No. 22 Pioneers in non-conference action here Monday afternoon.
"We quit doing what we did (to gain the lead)," Wayland coach Clint Galyean said of the Pioneers losing their advantage. "Late in the game they put the pressure on us and we had some very uncharacteristic turnovers. We took some bad contested shots and let them get out in transition."
Playing on the campus of Texas Wesleyan University, Wayland (8-4) scored eight straight points – featuring two 3-pointers from Josh Servantez – to take a 64-51 lead with 14 minutes to play. The Pilots (9-3) rallied and cut it to one before the Pioneers again surged, getting a 3 by RJ Mason to lead 84-77 with 2½ minutes to go.
But WBU went two minutes without scoring as LSU-Shreveport scored 11 unanswered points – seven of those at the free-throw line – to go up 88-84 with 46 seconds to go. Wayland's scoring drought ended with a bucket by Parrish Hewitt, but the Pilots' Jalen Brooks – a senior guard who ended with 30 points – hit two more free throws to take it back to a two-possession game with 22 seconds left.
Wayland's Tedrick Wolfe hit a lay-up then got what it needed when LSU-Shreveport missed the second of two free throws. But Brooks grabbed the offensive rebound for the Pilots and the Pioneers had to foul again.
This time, with 12 ticks left, Brooks missed both foul shots to keep the door open for Wayland. Wolfe missed a game-tying 3-pointer, although Hewitt rebounded and hit two foul shots to pull the Pioneers to within one with five seconds to play.
WBU quickly fouled and put the Pilots' Brooks back on the line where he made the first and missed the second. Jaxon Recer got the rebound for Wayland, but the Pioneers weren't able to get off a final shot.
"They took away the outlet (pass) and got good ball pressure," Galyean said of WBU's inability to take a last shot, adding that the Pioneers didn't execute "late-game situations."
Wolfe paced the Pioneers with 20 points while Hewitt got 17 and D'Michael Bellfield 17. In his second game at Wayland, Reece Spencer produced a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Servantez ended with 11 points, hitting all three of his 3s.
Besides Brooks' 30 points and 14 rebounds, LSU-Shreveport got 16 points and eight boards off the bench from Snow as the pair combined to hit 19-of-23 free throws. Tyler Washington added 15 points and Calvin Carpenter 13.
The Pioneers suffered a season-high 20 turnovers, twice its season-average and three more than the Pilots, and were outscored at the stripe by 12 (13-of-20 vs. 25-of-33). Galyean said both those stats were key.
WBU ends 2023 and wraps up a five-game road swing by taking on University of the Southwest (N.M.) in Hobbs at 3 p.m. Dec. 30 in what will be the Pioneers' final non-conference game of the season. Wayland cruised over USW in the season-opener, 102-65.
After a 7-1 start, the Pioneers have dropped three of their last four outings.
"We've got to get it figured out," Galyean said.
