St. Gregory's Falls To Pioneers In OT

Brock Vorwald hit a three-pointer with seven seconds left to force overtime, but St. Gregory's couldn't get it done in the extra period, falling 85-79 to Wayland Baptist Saturday at the Hutcherson Center. The Pioneers' Juhreece Thompson led all scorers with 25 points – including six in overtime – as his team snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Cavaliers (6-15, 0-11 SAC) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but a late field goal drought allowed the home team back in the game. After forcing the extra session, SGU again went cold, managing only two field goals in its final 13 attempts.

Vorwald and Fayzon Richey each had 16 points to lead the Cavs, who shot 38 percent from the field for the game. Led by Thompson, WBU had five players in double figures and shot 44 percent from the floor.

SGU had the advantage from the free-throw line in a rugged game, finishing 26 of 30 (87 percent). The Pioneers managed only 21 of 33 from the stripe (64 percent). In all, 41 fouls were committed between the two teams.

The first half featured five ties and four lead changes with neither team have an advantage of more than seven. A pair of free throws put the Cavs up 29-25 with 3:59 left in the half, but WBU closed the period by scoring eight of the last 10 points to lead 33-31 at the break.

Richey led all scorers with seven at halftime as SGU shot 43 percent from the field.

It was 40-38 WBU with 16:02 remaining in the game when the Cavs finally provided some separation between the two teams. SGU scored the game's next nine points, capped off by a Richey jumper in the lane, to go up 47-40 at the 12:20 mark.

Vorwald hit a jumper to put the Cavs up 56-50 with 7:47 to go, but that was the team's last field goal until the junior forward hit the game-tying three with seven seconds remaining. The Pioneers quickly tied the game at the 6:20 mark and led by as many as four down the stretch as SGU was forced to keep pace from the charity stripe.

Despite their inefficiency from the floor, the Cavs were 13 of 15 from the line in the final eight minutes. Thompson hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to put WBU up 70-67, setting up Vorwald's shot with less than 10 seconds remaining.

The Pioneers scored the first six points of the extra period, as SGU didn't get its first bucket until Vorwald hit a jumper with 1:35 showing on the clock. The Pioneers' Tanner Hazelbaker answered that shot with a three-pointer 11 seconds later to put the home team up 79-72, and the Cavs got no closer than five the rest of the way.

SGU travels down the road to face Oklahoma Baptist on Tuesday at 8 p.m.