McPherson, KANSAS – The Tigers entered today's contest on a 3 game win streak and in 7^th place in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Their opponent the Wayland Baptist Pioneers entered today's contest with a perfect 3-0 record and sitting 2^nd in the Sooner Athletic Conference.

The Tigers, before tonight have played the Pioneers 7 times and each game has always been within 9 points including 2 games that were decided by 1 point, yet the Tigers remained winless against this SAC foe.
The Tigers and Pioneers kept the game close through the first 5 minutes, with the Tigers holding the slight advantage at 10-9 with 14:54 remaining in the 1^st. Back to Back 3 pointers by Reece Warren on the Tigers next two possessions put the Tigers up 16-9, looking to start the separation. Pioneers, however went on a 11-4 run and at the 8:59 mark both teams were squared up at 20-20. Another run by the Pioneers to close the half put them up 35-30 over the Tigers.

Despite being down 5 at half, the Tigers came out strong against the Pioneers and erase the deficit with 14:48 after a Tiger free throw, and then after the 2^nd free throw the Tigers grabbed a lead at 42-41. Over the next 7 minutes the Tigers built a double digit lead 57-47 with 7:18 remaining. The Pioneers didn't shy away though and began to chip away at the Tiger lead. A 19-9 run with 1:25 left put the teams evened up at 67-67. Kenzell Williams hit a clutch shot in the paint with 1:00 minute to go as they take the slight 69-67 lead. The Pioneers just missed their 3 point attempt and Tigers drew a foul off the inbound and Kenzell William knocked down 2 clutch free throws to give the Tigers a 4 point lead 69-95 22 seconds.

The Pioneers unable to convert on a contested lay-up, led to a comeback victory for the Tigers and first time in program history the Tigers beat the Pioneers.

Tigers increase their win streak to 4 games and 3-0 run in conference since the 0-2 start.

UP NEXT

Tigers 8-3, 3-2 SAC will take a break from conference play and play Ecclesia College in Springdale, AR on Dec. 6^th, tip-off @ 3:30 p.m.

CENTRAL CHRISTIAN QUOTES

Head Coach Tony Romero

"Great win for our guys.  A great battle between the lines.  Wayland is a very well coached team, they are big and physical, execute well in the half court and are tough to score on. Our guys had a solid start the first half then they hit us the last ten minutes of the first half.  Our guys responded well out of halftime to regain some momentum.  I am most impressed with our toughness this game, I thought our group really sat down and guarded well and were tough on the glass.  Kenzell Williams is an unsung hero for our group, not always going to see his contributions to our team on the stat sheet, but he really set the tone for us tonight, he played well defending their best guards and made a huge shot down the stretch to push us ahead. Another guy I want to make mention of is Adrian, he is freshman for us and has had some bright moments and some freshman moments, but he came in and played 10 huge minutes for us defensively tonight. A big character and gut win for our team!  No rest as we have 2 more games in this 6 games in 13 day stretch."

 
TIGER NOTABLES

• Isaiah Rivera records 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists
• Darrell Bryant comes off the bench and records 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block.
• Byron Staten records 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block
• Kenzell Williams hits the go-ahead basket and records 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.