By Chad Clevenger
PLAINVIEW, Tex. (CCCTigers.com) – It was a physical one on Saturday night at Wayland. The Pioneers fresh off upsetting the #1 ranked Langston University on Thursday night, but the Tigers were able to slow down the Pioneers with a 60-58 win and move to 6-0 on the season, and 2-0 in the SAC.
The Tigers led 34-30 at the half, but it was the 2nd half where the game got physical. We saw 16 ties or lead changes in the 2nd half with the Pioneers taking a 4 point lead with 5:29 remaining, 52-48. A Malachi Farr Jumper followed by a Free Throw by Jaeden Whitten and 2 Free Throws by Chris Whitten put the Tigers back in the lead, 53-52. Then arguably the biggest play of the game, a spike block by Jevarrick Butler, who kept the ball inbounds, saved it from going out of bounds, then hustled down the court and hit a jumper to give the Tigers a 3 point lead, 55-52. Butler, who battled foul trouble, and shooting woes, saved the best for last making the Tigers final 2 shots of the game, his only 2 with his 2nd shot of the game, a big one with 1:12 remaining to give the Tigers a 59-56 lead. The Tigers who struggled at the Free Throw Line shooting, shooting 14-24 (58%), but were able to hit 6-7 down the stretch to pull off a big 60-58 win on Saturday night.
Chris Whitten led the Tigers with 19 points, Malachi Farr added 10, and Jaeden Whitten scored 9 off the bench. Travis King was solid off the bench as Andre Shelby, who battled foul trouble, scoring 5 and adding 5 rebounds. Shelby had 11 rebounds to go with his 5 points.
Key Stat: Tigers held Wayland to 3-31 (9%) shooting behind the Arc.
Tiger Leaders:
Points: Chris Whitten (19)
Rebounds: Andre Shelby (11)
Assists: Travis King (3), Andre Cooper (3)
Steals: Andre Shelby (1), Travis King (1)
Blocks: Andre Shelby (1), Jevarrick Butler (1)
The Tigers (6-0) travel to take on Mid America Christian University (4-0) on Monday night at 7:45pm. Game can be seen on the SAC Sports Network.
