BETHANY, Okla. – Another well-rounded effort boosted Wayland Baptist to its fifth-straight win here Saturday afternoon as the Pioneers downed Southwestern Christian in Sooner Athletic Conference play, 84-78.
Ranked the equivalent of 39
th in the NAIA, Wayland (15-6, 10-5 SAC) led for all but a few minutes early in the first half and when SCU (9-10, 7-9), after trailing by 11, tied it at 57 with just over eight minutes to play in the game. But the Pioneers came out of a timeout and proceeded to score the next 10 points, six by
Dylan McDougal, as the Eagles suffered three straight turnovers followed by a pair of missed 3-pointers.
WBU later led by a dozen points then hit 8-of-10 free throws to seal it, the victory ultimately secured by a break-away slam by
Tedrick Wolfe.
McDougal and Wolfe led the Pioneers in scoring with 15 points apiece, followed by
Parrish Hewitt with 12 and
D'Michael Bellfield and
Manny Crump with 10 each. Crump pulled down a team-best six rebounds, while Wolfe blocked four shots.
After turning the ball over a season-low five times in a 103-77 win Thursday over Mid-America Christian, Wayland gave it away only six times Saturday. The Eagles ended with three times as many turnovers, 18. That was the difference in the game as SCU posted higher shooting percentages than Wayland.
SCU's Shawn Hopkins led all scorers with 29 points as he went 11-of-15 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
It was the second win in as many outings for Wayland against the Eagles. The Pioneers won earlier this season in Plainview, 85-71.
WBU, now tied with North Texas Dallas for second place in the league standings, returns to Hutcherson Center for three home games next week, starting with an 8 p.m. contest Tuesday against last-place Oklahoma-Panhandle State (2-19, 1-14). The Aggies, who fell Saturday to MACU, 82-79, lost to Wayland in Goodwell in the first half of SAC play, 89-61.
After OPSU, Wayland hosts next-to-last Central Christian (6-16, 4-12) at 8 p.m. Thursday then third-ranked, SAC-leading Langston (21-1, 15-1) at 3:45 Saturday. The Pioneers lost to Langston in Oklahoma on Dec. 12, 86-74.
