Winona Lake, Indiana – The Pioneers completed a furious comeback from an 18-point deficit to secure the double overtime Round One victory over Asbury University (Ky.) 101-91 in the NCCAA Division 1 Men's Championships.
Wayland Baptist opened the game slowly and fell behind 13-4 after the Eagles hit their first four jump shots including a couple of threes in the first four minutes of play. After
Quenton Coleman and
Joshua Tucker each scored a bucket for the Pioneers, the Eagles went on a 13-0 run to make it a 26-8 game almost halfway through the first half. The Pioneers answered back with a 6-0 run of their own sparked by two Coleman jumpers to cut the Pioneer deficit to 12 points with nine minutes until the halftime break.
With just over six minutes until the intermission, the Pioneers trimmed the Eagle lead down to 7 points after a dunk by
D'Michael Bellfield and a jumper by
Meikkel Murray made the score 28-21. After the Eagles sunk another three to push their lead back to ten points with just under four minutes in the half, the Pioneers
Bol Tong went on a 5-0 personal run started by a jumper off the pass from Murray, and capped off by a successful and-one conversion to make it 33-28. Bellfield scored the final bucket of the half, but the Eagles took a 37-30 lead into the halftime break.
The Pioneers began the second half allowing the Eagles to score five straight buckets during a two-minute span to fall behind 49-34 after three minutes of play. The Pioneers fell behind 16 points after the Eagles knocked down another three with just over eleven minutes left in regulation, but this is where the Pioneers furious comeback began to take shape.
It started with a quick 5-0 Pioneer run that featured buckets by Bellfield and Coleman to trim their deficit down to 11 points with just over ten minutes left. After forcing a turnover and a missed bucket by the Eagles,
Brett Leach knocked down a free throw followed by a three by Coleman to make it a 66-59 game with just under eight minutes to go. The Eagles drained a three their next trip down, but Coleman answered yet again for the Pioneers with a three of his own to keep the deficit at 7 for Wayland Baptist.
The Pioneers got two crucial stops to continue to fuel the comeback, and that led to back-to-back buckets for Bellfield and Murray to make it a 66-63 game with just over four minutes left in regulation. The Pioneers hadn't evened the scoring of this since it was 0-0, but that changed with just over three minutes remaining in the second half after Leach knocked down a huge three to tie the game at 68. Bellfield gave the Pioneers the lead, 74-73, with thirty seconds left, but the Pioneers were called for a foul with two seconds left to send the Eagles to the free throw line with a chance to win. Fortunately for Wayland Baptist, the Eagles on sunk one of two from the line and the game was forced into overtime.
The first OT began with the Eagles taking an 81-76 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the extra period. With just over a minute until the end of the first overtime, the Eagles took an 86-80 lead and thought the contest was over, but the Pioneers had other ideas.
Rodney Carson Jr. started the overtime comeback with a layup followed by bucket by Tong and Coleman to bring the game even with under a minute to go. The Eagles got a look from three to try and win, but the shot bounced off and the Pioneers forced a second overtime.
The Pioneers had enough of the Eagles and decided to dominate the second overtime after Carson Jr. started the scoring off with a layup. Even though the Pioneers only shot 15-30 from the free throw line combined in regulation and the first overtime, they sunk four clutch free throws to extend their lead to 99-91 with under a minute to go. Tong capped off the round one victory with a wide-open two-handed slam to seal the 101-91 victory for the Pioneers and complete the insane comeback to advance to the Semi-Finals of the NCCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championships.
Coleman led the way for the Pioneers by scoring 32 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, dropping off 4 assists, and swiping two steals. Bellfield had a double-double himself - scoring 24 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and shooting 10-16 from the floor. Bellfield also had three blocks and two steals on the defensive side. Murray added 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, on 50% shooting from the floor. Tong added 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal in 15+ minutes off the bench. Carson Jr. tallied 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
The Pioneers will take on the 6
th seeded SAGU – American Indian College on Thursday afternoon at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on the campus of Grace College in the Semi-Finals of the NCCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championships. Tip is set for 2:30 PM CT.
