Plainview, TX-
Wayland Baptist’s dream of adding a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship to its first-ever regular-season title ended Tuesday night in Hutcherson Center when eighth-seeded Oklahoma-Panhandle State upset the top-seeded, fifth-ranked Pioneers, 76-67.
“Congratulations to Panhandle,” Wayland coach Ty Harrelson said. “I think (OPSU) Coach (Aaron) Coombs has done a great job all year. I thought he did a great job of managing the game and taking advantage of our defensive weaknesses.”
Wayland (24-7) led by nine points midway through the second half, but the Aggies (16-13) caught fire and went on a 17-4 run to take the lead. OPSU later scored eight straight points to seal the victory that qualifies the Aggies to advance to the tournament semifinals Friday at Oklahoma City University’s Abe Lemons Arena.
“We just did not shoot the ball well,” Harrelson said. “We shot well in the first half, but the second half might be one of the worst halves of basketball I’ve coached. I take the blame for that. I didn’t get us to execute our offense the way it’s designed to be executed,”
Wayland must wait three weeks before its next game at the NAIA National Championships, for which the Pioneers automatically qualified by winning the SAC regular-season. The national championships begin March 20 in Kansas City, Mo.
Courtesy: Wayland Baptist Athletics
