Waxahachie, Texas- January 23, 2016- The Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) men’s basketball team lost to the defending Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) champions Wayland Baptist University , 76-75.  The Lions are now 5-3 in the SAC and 14-6 overall.  WBU is 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the SAC.

“If success was marked by improvement, then last night was a victory,” says head coach Donnie Bostwick despite the loss, “ We worked harder as a team than we have all season, but this time it just was not enough. I think 20 offensive rebounds is an indicator of that.”

The Pioneers led the Lions for much of the first half.  With 13:59 left in the half, WBU took the biggest lead of the night when Marquous Barnes hit a second chance shot to put the Pioneers up 22-12.  SAGU’s Jason Gentry hit a three point shot to send the Lions on a 23-8 scoring spree.  With 6:01 left in the half, Gentry made yet another three point shot to send the Lions up 35-30.

With 0:13 left to play in the first half, senior Emmanuel Adoyi made two free throws to tie the game at 42.  On his third free throw, SAGU got the offensive rebound but quickly turned over the ball.  With 0:07 left in the first, Marshall Nelson put WBU up 44-22.

Head coach Donnie Bostwick feels that one of the things that hurt SAGU the most was the first few minutes of each half, “Another key to the game is the first and last five minutes of each half. We got beat coming out flat both halves. We were -15 during those stretches.”

WBU held the lead the entire second half when with 2:49 left to play, SAGU’s Keyunta Watkins hit a basket to tie the game at 72.  WBU’s Maurice Redmond made two free throws to go up 74-72.  Soon after SAGU’s Emmanuel Adoyi got a steal which led to a three-point shot by Jason Gentry to put SAGU up, 75-74.  With 1:39 left in the game, the Pioneers scored one final time when Maurice Redmond made a shot in the paint.

Senior Jason Gentry had 20 points and six rebounds for the Lions. Emmanuel Adoyi added 14 points and Isaak Rowe had ten points and five rebounds. Rishaad Alexander 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Jordon Johnson had 16 points and nine rebounds.

On Thursday, January 28, 2016 the Lions will play at Texas Wesleyan University .  TWU is ranked no. 13 in the NAIA.  They are 15-4 overall and 6-2 in the SAC.

Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, Sports Information, [email protected]