Oklahoma City University hit 23-of-24 free throws and the Stars held off a late-game rally by Wayland Baptist to knock off the No. 22 Pioneers on Saturday afternoon at Hutcherson Center, 88-82.
OCU (7-8, 5-4 SAC) got 31 points from Kori Guest and a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double by Brandon Jackson to hand Wayland (10-5, 5-4 SAC) its first home loss of the season after seven victories.
The Pioneers scored the first five points of the game before the Stars rolled off the next 12. Wayland briefly regained the lead, 18-16, but that was the last time.
OCU scored the final five points of the first half to own a 46-38 intermission edge, then the Stars opened the second half with a 6-1 run to make it a 13-point game. The margin grew to as many as 17, 61-44.
The Pioneers chipped away at the lead the rest of the way, cutting it to single digits with just over 11 minutes to play. It was 68-63 with 8:40 to play, but OCU responded with a 7-2 run to push the margin back to 10.
Wayland still trailed by nine when
Parrish Hewitt put the Pioneers on his back. Hewitt scored the game's next eight points – including a pair of 3-pointers – to make it 78-77 with 2:45 showing.
The Stars, though, never surrendered the lead, thanks to going 10-of-10 at the free-throw line over the final 90 seconds. Wayland kept it close with a 3-pointer by
RJ Mason that made it 84-82. After two free throws by the Stars, the Pioneers missed their final two 3s, and their rally fell just short.
D'Michael Bellfield turned in his second straight strong performance, following up Thursday's 31-point effort with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Hewitt hit four 3s and added 18 points,
Tedrick Wolfe 11 and Mason 10.
Jaxon Recer came up with a team-high six rebounds.
OCU dominated the boards, 38-22, and allowed the Pioneers just two offensive boards and one second-chance point, versus 10 offensive rebounds and a dozen second-chance points.
The Pioneers will be in Fort Worth for their next game at 7:45 p.m. Thursday against Texas Wesleyan (7-8, 4-5), which fell at No. 7, unbeaten Langston on Saturday, 79-64.
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