Langston, OK – True to form, the top four seeds advanced from the quarterfinal round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. Monday, the 4-seed Pioneers from Wayland Baptist faced off against the 1-seed, and 24
th ranked, Nelson University in the semi-final round. The two teams battled toe-to-toe in a game that featured the score being tied 9 times and 23 lead changes before Nelson escaped with an 83-77 win.
The first ten minutes of the first half was tense as the teams were not separated by more than five points. The Pioneers went on a run and led by ten, 34-24, with 6:05 remaining on a dunk by
Kabine Kaba. Following a Nelson time-out, the Lions outscored the Pioneers 22-12 for the remainder of the half and the two teams went into intermission tied at 46-all.
The second half was close throughout as the teams spent much of the final twenty minutes trading baskets and the lead. Nelson took their largest lead of the game, 6 points, with only 00.04 seconds remaining, when they made two free throws for the final margin of victory.
Brett Leach led four Pioneers in double figure scoring with 23 points. Leach also had six rebounds and two assists.
Kabine Kaba and
Quenton Coleman each scored 14 points. Kaba added six assists, two steals and an assist, while Coleman contributed six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
James Lee scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
Alex Rojas scored 9 points along with two rebounds.
Dylan McDougal scored 5 points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal and a block.
Jaxon Recer made a free throw and grabbed four rebounds.
Niko Noumeros grabbed three rebounds and dished out an assist.
