Wayland Baptist needed several big plays down the stretch to pull away from John Brown, but none were bigger than the one Kendall Durant delivered with less than two minutes remaining.
With JBU trailing 72-69 and needing a stop on defense, Durant's driving layup gave the No. 15 Pioneers a 74-69 lead and made it a two-possession game. Wayland Baptist then hit 8 of 9 free throws the rest of the way in a 82-71 win inside Bill George Arena.
"Kendall made a real big play there," said Wayland Baptist coach Matt Garnett. "They're so big inside they make it so tough for you to get in there and finish. Kendall wanted the ball in that situation. I'm real proud of the play he made."
With the win, the Pioneers (22-4, 11-4) remained in second place by one game behind Mid-America Christian after Thursday night's games.
JBU, meanwhile dropped to 15-12 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Golden Eagles are likely out of the running for an at-large berth for the NAIA National Tournament and will need to win the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament in the first week of March.
"I think there was an outside chance if we would have won four in a row," said JBU head coach Jason Beschta.
The Golden Eagles trailed 64-60 but took a 65-64 lead after Max Hopfgartner scored on an alley-oop and then canned a 3-pointer.
Royal Crouch answered with a bucket as the Pioneers took a 66-65 lead they never relinquished. Robert Waters and Ta'Quan McDew then connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 72-65.
The Golden Eagles clawed back to 72-69 after Zach English and Griffin Brady each hit a pair of free throws.
"We knew the fight we were going to be in for," Garnett said. "They do such a good job and this is such a tough place to come win a game -- a lot of credit to the way they played. We had to really make some big plays down the stretch. And I'm pleased our kids were able to do that."
Waters led the Pioneers with 19 points, McDew had 16, Bunja Yaboe 12 and Durant with 10. Yaboe also had 12 rebounds. The Pioneers hit 30 of 61 shots, including 10 of 21 from behind the 3-point line.
Beschta said Mid-America Christian may be leading the league, but it's possible Wayland Baptist is the more dangerous team.
"Going up against these guys, they've got a lot more weapons," Beschta said. "They've got the bigs. They're just a tournament-caliber team. They really are. They've got a good point guard. They've got guys that can shoot, guys that can drive, guys that are physical. They've got a big presence inside."
Hopfgartner led the Golden Eagles with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while English, Matthew Ledford had 12 and D.J. Feitl 11. JBU hit 26 of 65 shots and 9 of 26 from behind the 3-point line.
"I told our guys this, no one's talking about moral victories," Beschta said. "No one likes to lose. I'd rather learn from winning. Everybody would.
"But we got better tonight. Our focus is we want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season. The way we've played the last couple of games, we're pointing toward that. And if we can continue to do that so that we're playing our best at the end of the year, we're going to be in a good situation to make a run."
The Golden Eagles played their final home game on Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God. Results were not available at presstime.
Wayland Baptist 82, John Brown 71
Wayland Baptist 36 46 -- 82
John Brown 35 36 -- 71
Wayland Baptist (22-4, 11-4): Waters 19, McDew 16, Yaboe 12, Durant 10, Crouch 8, Hristov 6, Johnson 4, Lancaster 4, Mitchell 3.
John Brown (15-12, 7-8): Hopfgartner 25, English 12, Ledford 12, Feitl 11, Brady 8, Olayemi 2, Anderson 1.
Sports on 02/22/2015