SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Without a victory at Bill George Arena in its last six attempts, No. 15 Wayland Baptist (Texas) completed the season sweep of John Brown (15-12, 7-8 SAC) by draining 5-of-9 attempts behind the arc in the second half to land an 82-71 win tonight in Siloam Springs.
Both teams featured four players in double-digits, but the Baptist trio of Robert Waters, TaQuan McDew and Bunja Yaboe proved too much as the threesome combined for 47 points in the win, mostly from behind the arc. Waters nailed 5-of-7 attempts from long range while McDew converted 3-of-6 chances, leading the Pioneers to a 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) evening from three-point range.
Wayland (22-4, 11-4 SAC) jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, but the Golden Eagles strung together seven unanswered points on back-to-back junior DJ Feitl field goals and a sophomore Zach English triple to take a 9-8 lead five minutes into the game. Kendall Durant put WBU back in control on the Pioneers next possession, but Max Hopfgartner, the game's leading scorer, hit a consecutive triples to swing the lead back in JBU's favor, 16-12.
Baptist tied the game twice, once at 8:42 and another at 7:36, before finally taking the lead for good. With 6:09 remaining in the first frame WBUs Robert Waters hit his second trey of the game, handing the visitors a 27-25 lead. Waters connected on his third bonus shot on the next possession, leading the Pioneers to a five-point advantage. JBU closed out the half with back-to-back defensive stops and junior Griffin Brady and senior Samson Olayemi converted on the offensive end to go enter the break down one point, 36-35.
The second half started similar to the first with Wayland scoring six of the first eight points. The lead would grow to six 50-44 after Mitchell Morris split a pair at the line. However, three-straight triples from Hopfgartner, English and freshman Matthew Ledford returned the lead to John Brown, 55-52, with 11:20 remaining in the half.
Over the next 5:14 span, the Golden Eagles were relegated to just one field goal, a Feitl triple, as Jacob Lancaster netted a pair of buckets, leading WBU on a 12-5 rally, and a 64-60 lead. Hopfgartner continued to rack up the points with a hook shot from Olayemi and another triple, forcing a 65-64 John Brown advantage. Wayland then took over the game with a well-timed run.
With just 4:32 left in the game, Crouch took a pass from Yaboe to score down low and JBU missed its next two shots while Waters and McDew connected on consecutive shots from long range to piece together a 7-0 rally in just over a minute. John Brown couldnt recover, managing just one field goal for the remainder of the game. Baptist converted 8-of-9 attempts at the line in the closing minutes.
McDew shot 5-of-10 from the floor to give WBU 16 points while Kendall Durant came off the bench to contribute 10 points and a team-high five assists. Waters led four Pioneers in double figures with 19 points, and Yaboe tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Baptist shot 30-of-61 (49.2 percent) from the floor in the win.
Hopfgartner led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-21 shooting, including four buckets from behind the arc. He completed his eight double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds, six on the offensive glass. English and Ledford each hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with 12 points apiece while Olayemi led all players with seven assists in the loss. After shooting 50 percent in the first half, JBU was relegated to 35 percent in the second half, finishing the game 26-of-65 (40 percent).
JBU will now take on Southwestern A.G. (Texas) on Saturday (Feb. 21) at Bill George Arena. Tip off is scheduled for 3 p.m. against the Lions, which are receiving votes in the latest NAIA National Coaches Top-25 Poll.
