Pioneers secure nationals bid with SAC Tourney title - Mar 7, 2016

After defeating the 22nd-ranked and 14th-ranked teams the past two days, Wayland Baptist coach Ty Harrelson felt the Pioneers would earn an at-large berth into the NAIA National Championships. After facing Science and Arts of Oklahoma in the championship game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament, Harrelson will never know if he was right.
That's because the Pioneers - with a come-from-behind 92-85 victory over USAO on Saturday night - earned the automatic bid that accompanies the conference tournament championship.
"I felt like we had already played our way in (to the national tournament bracket) the way we finished the season, but winning today was a fantastic experience. I'm really proud of my team," Harrelson said.
All-tournament players Maurice Redmond (6'3''-SG) scored 24 points, Robert Waters (6'1''-PG), the tourney MVP, went for 22 and Anietie Jack (6'4''-SG) put in 20 to lead the sixth-seeded Pioneers (21-11), who rallied from a 14-point deficit and outscored the fifth-seeded Drovers (17-12) 14-4 down the stretch to clinch the crown.
"Play after play the guys showed their resiliency," Harrelson said.. "They easily could have said, 'It's not our day.'"
But they never did.
Even after scoring just 30 points in the first half.
"We were able to make adjustments at halftime and came back and scored 62 in the second half," Harrelson said.
Fueled by Hustle Award winner freshman Jordan Tolbert (6'7''-F-92), Wayland trailed 79-78 with less than three minutes to play when a 3-pointer by Robert Lopez (6'1''-SG) put the Pioneers ahead for good. With WBU up by four and the outcome still in doubt, Waters made a pair of free throws before Redmond, following a defensive rebound, added one to make it a seven-point spread.
USAO's last gasp met with a missed 3-pointer, then Jack put it away with two more foul shots that made it 92-83 with 21 seconds left.
"We made the plays and made the big shots and got the stops we needed to get," Harrelson said.
After never having won a SAC title, the Pioneers have now done it two years in a row. This year's tournament will be held March 16-22, with first-round pairings to be announced during a live selection show on www.naia.org at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Against USAO, which got 30 points from David Tucker (6'1''-G) and 18 from Richard McCalop (6'8''-F), Wayland shot 45 percent (27-of-60) from the field, including 8-of-21 (38 percent) from 3-point range where Waters was 4-of-7. The Pioneers made 30-of-40 free throws, with Redmond and Waters both going 10-of-11. USAO, which was coming off a 75-73 semifinal win over eighth-ranked, top-seeded Texas Wesleyan, was 24-of-33 at the line while hitting 41 percent (27-of-66) from the floor, including 29 percent (7-of-24) from beyond the arc.
Jack got 12 of Wayland's 36 rebounds, nine fewer than USAO which was paced by McCalop's 13.
The Pioneers trailed at the half, 39-30, and fell behind by as many as 14, 49-35, with 17 minutes to play. Wayland was still down by 11, 61-50, at the 10:30 mark, but that's when the Pioneers mounted their comeback.
Redmond and Jack made back-to-back field goals, then Waters connected on an and-one 3-pointer to suddenly pull the Pioneers to within three, 61-58, over a span of just 90 seconds.
A putback after an offensive rebound by Cody Thomas tied it at 64 with 7 minutes to go, then a 3-pointer by Marshall Nelson (6'2''-G-94, college: Rhode Island CC) gave Wayland its first lead, 67-66, since midway through the first half.
The teams battled for control until Wayland finally took it with their big charge in the last three minutes.
"We made good decisions, got defensive stops and moved the basketball. All the things the coaches have preached throughout the year, guys went out and executed it," Harrelson said.
As a result, the Pioneers are headed back to the national tournament for the third straight season, something not many people would have thought likely after Wayland lost six of seven games in January and before winning nine of their last 11.
"We lost some games in the first round of conference that were really close, so we knew once we corrected a few mistakes we could get it going in the right direction," Harrelson said. "I think our team did a great job of sticking together knowing the process would take care of the results."

SAC Tournament Final: Wayland Baptist - Science and Arts of Oklahoma 92-85
SAC Tournament Semifinals:
Southwestern Assemblies of God - Texas Wesleyan 75-73
Wayland Baptist - Mid-America Christian 92-87

Courtesy of Sooner Athletic