Plainview, Texas –
Tahjae Hill and
Meikkel Murray each go for 17 points as the Pioneers take care of Oklahoma City University (5-16, 3-12) in a Sooner Athletic Conference game at the Hutcherson Center on Thursday night.
Wayland Baptist (15-6, 10-5) began the contest trading buckets with the Stars, but two layups by Hill and
Jaxon Recer gave the Pioneers a 13-9 lead five minutes in. With the score at 20-18, the Pioneers were able to go on a 7-0 run started by 3-pointers by Hill and
Quentin Coleman to give the Pioneers a 27-18 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. Over the next three minutes of game clock, the Pioneers were able to hit 3 3-pointers to push their lead to 38-22. With just under three minutes until the halftime break,
Brett Leach was able to steal a pass and push the ball in transition to
Rodney Carson Jr. for a fast-break dunk to extend the Pioneer lead to 43-24. Leach drained a 3-pointer in the last few seconds to give Wayland Baptist a 47-28 lead.
Early in the second half, Murray was able to slash to the basket and catch a pass from
D'Michael Bellfield for a layup to give the Pioneers a 51-34 lead. With just over eleven minutes left in regulation, Murray was able to clean up the offensive boards for a putback to push the lead for the Pioneers to 65-44. With just under two minutes remaining in the game,
Bol Tong followed up a missed Pioneer 3-pointer to get a putback layup to make the score 83-64. The Pioneers knocked off the Stars 85-68 to give them their 10
th conference win on the season.
Tahjae Hill went for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and finished 4-6 from 3-point range.
Meikkel Murray added 17 points, 3 rebounds, and he shot 8-13 from the floor.
Brett Leach scored 13 points, 6 rebounds, and shot 3-5 from 3-point range. Rodney Carson Jr finished with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and finished 5-7 from the floor.
Up next for the Pioneers is another Sooner Athletic Conference home game against John Brown University (12-8, 10-5 SAC). Tip is set for 4:00 PM on Saturday afternoon at the Hutcherson Center.
