Plainview, Texas -- Trailing by as many as 17 in the second half, the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers rallied all the way back to slip by the Mid-America Christian University Evangels 79-74 in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup Thursday night (Jan. 10) in Plainview, Texas.

The Evangels were out-scored 41-25 in the second half after leading 49-38 at the break. 

A jumper by Yuri Hager extended the lead to 57-40 and MACU still led by 16 after two free throws from Angelo Lewis made it 65-49 with 12:40 remaining.

That's when the Pioneers began to charge back as a layup by Theo Hatcher punctuated a 12-1 spurt that trimmed the lead to 66-61 at the 8:29 mark.

After a jumper by Charlie Shorter temporarily halted the momentum, a three by Hatcher and a layup from Juhreece Thompson brought the Pioneers to within a bucket at 68-66.

Yuri Hager and Lewis then each split a pair at the free-throw line to put the Evangels back on top by four, but a three by Nikola Grbic and a pair of free throws from Thompson gave the Pioneers their first lead of the game with 3:29 left.

The Evangels (6-5, 1-1 SAC) fought back as a free throw from Shorter and a layup by Josh Minner put MACU back in front 73-71.

But Thompson converted a three-point play to cap a 6-0 spurt for a 77-73 lead with just 37 seconds left.

The Evangels then missed two free throws and Tanner Hazelbaker made two freebies on the other end with 16 seconds remaining to put it away. 

Shorter led the Evangels with 18 points, while Lewis scored 15 and added a career-high 15 rebounds.  Josh Young chipped in with 10 and Camilo Valencia scored nine and hit all four of his free-throw attempts.

Hazelbaker led four Pioneers (11-6, 2-2 SAC) in double-figures with 20 points and Travis Payton scored 11 with a team-high 10 boards.  Hatcher scored 17 with eight rebounds and Thompson had 15 points and seven boards.

The Evangels out-rebounded WBU 54-45 overall and 19-13 on the offensive glass, but were hurt by 17 turnovers, including nine over the final 12:40 when they were out-scored 30-9. 

MACU will remain in the Lone Star State and play at Lubbock Christian University on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 12) at 3 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas.