McPherson, KS – Wayland Baptist earned a hard fought, come from behind 83-78 victory against Central Christian College Saturday afternoon. The home team took an early lead and never trailed until the 9:54 mark when a layup by
Adeola Seun gave the Pioneers a brief 15-14 lead. The teams traded baskets, and the lead, for the next few minutes until Central Christian took a 21-19 lead with 6:21 remaining in the half. Central Christian stretched the lead to as much as eight points at the 2:16 mark, but the Pioneers whittled the lead down to five, 35-30, at halftime.
The Tigers led by as many as seven points early in the second half and remained in the lead until a three-pointer by
Quenton Coleman tied the score at 48-all with 11:13 left to play. Much like the first half, for the next several minutes the teams traded baskets and the lead, until a free throw by
Niko Noumeros at the 7:32 mark gave the Pioneers a 55-54 lead they would never relinquish. The Pioneers led by as many as nine points on two different occasions in the last two minutes and came away with the five point win.
Wayland Baptist had four players score in double figures, led by
Quenton Coleman with 29.
Adeola Seun scored 14, going 5 for 5 from the field and 4 for 5 from the free throw line.
Dylan McDougal scored 12 points and
Kabine Kaba contributed 10.
Brett Leach,
James Lee and
Alex Rojas each contributed 5 points to the winning cause and
Niko Noumeros added 3 points.
Coleman led the Pioneers in rebounds with 5, while McDougal,
Brett Leach and
James Lee each had 4 rebounds. Four WBU players, Kaba, Seun,
Alex Rojas, and
Niko Noumeros grabbed 3 rebounds.
Joshua Tucker had 2 boards.
The Pioneers also had outstanding guard play as their three primary ball-handlers combined for 13 assists and only 3 turnovers.
James Lee had 5 assists and 1 turnover.
Quenton Coleman and
Julian Perez each had 4 assists and 1 turnover.
Wayland Baptist returns home Thursday for a big conference game against RV Texas Wesleyan. The game begins at 8:00 PM.
