Photo by Kami Wood

McPherson, Kan. – The Central Christian College men's basketball team upset 16^th ranked Wayland Baptist University at home on Saturday, giving the Tigers back to back Sooner Athletic Conference wins for the first time since December of last year.

The Tigers, who have not really been able to put two solid halves together all season, finally got things going against the Pioneers. The Tigers got meaningful contributions from all nine of the players who saw action against the Pioneers. All nine players broke into the scoring column, eight of the nine recorded an assist, and seven of the nine grabbed a rebound.

The Tigers were locked in in the opening half on both ends of the floor. Jamir Spivey got his first start of the season, and provided an offensive spark for the Tigers in the first. He scored nine of the team high 13 points in the first half, including two rim rattling dunks that brought the Tiger faithful to their feet. At the break the Tigers had built up a 12 point lead 35-22.

They would need nearly all of that 12 point cushion in the second half. The Pioneers are not ranked in the top 25 for nothing. They have talent and can shoot it from all over the floor. They made several runs at the Tigers in the second half, but each time the Tigers found an answer, to keep them at bay. The Pioneers came all the way back and tied the game at 49 with 7:43 left in regulation, but the Tigers didn't fold. They found a way to inch away from the Pioneers. Four times late in the half, the Tigers hit shots as the shot clock was hitting zero. Malachi Farr hit two jump shots at the buzzer, and Byron Staten and Demario Moore had huge baseline drives late in the shot clock.

With time winding down, the Pioneers made some uncharacteristic mistakes, turning the ball over to the Tigers and putting themselves in a position where they were forced to foul the Tigers. In the last minute and a half, the Tigers made things more interesting than they needed to be, going 5 of 10 from the free throw line.

In the end they did enough to pick up the win, upsetting the SAC's 4^th ranked team 69-62.

Key Statistic

The Tigers made 27 of 51 shots from the floor (52%).

By the Numbers

The Tigers made 5 of 17 attempts from deep (29%).

At the free throw line they were 10 of 17 (58%).

The Tigers won the turnover battle 10 to 15, but were out-rebounded by the Pioneers 30 to 29.

Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by Spivey's 13.

Tiger Leaders

Points: Jamir Spivey (13)

Rebounds: Andre Shelby, (7)            

Assists: Andre Shelby, Joc Lyons (3)

Steals: Demario Moore (3)

Blocks: Andre Shelby, Joc Lyons (1)                                                

Coach Quote
 
"What a great team effort tonight.  It's nice to see two halves come together for us, we have been searching and we were able to do some things consistently tonight.  We really had some guys step up tonight in huge ways; Jamir, Malachi, Jakir, and Mario all came through in huge moments tonight.  So happy to see their success.  Wayland is a very talented and explosive team who is well coached. Our guys were pretty locked in on the defensive side of the ball and showed a lot of toughness throughout the game.   Offensively, we did a good job sharing the ball especially the first half.  We had some guys make some big plays in critical moments late in the shot clock.  We knew coming in, we had to slow the game down a bit, Wayland is a high scoring fast paced team and our guys did well controlling the tempo.  Big week getting two conference wins and a great way to go into the break."– Coach Tony Romero

Next Up
 
The Tigers go into the holiday break at 5-7 overall, and 3-4 in the SAC. They will get a non-conference tune up on December 31^st on the road against Sterling College, before getting back to SAC action on January 5^th against the Texas Wesleyan University Rams. Tip-off for the game in Sterling is set for 2:00 pm.