ST. THOMAS, V.I. ? The Wichita State men's basketball team dropped its first game in the Paradise Jam, falling to 64-55 to Baylor. Phil Thomasson and Matt Braeuer led the Shockers with 12 points, while Ramon Clemente led the WSU rebounding charge with 13 boards.

Wichita State pulled ahead, 8-2, with back-to-back three-pointers from P.J. Couisnard and Matt Braeuer on a quick break at the 17:08 mark. After a time out, Baylor connected twice to cut the lead to one. Braeuer hit his second three to keep the distance, but Baylor's Curtis Jerrells answered with the same to make it 11-10 in favor of the Shockers. Gal Mekel and J.T. Durley each picked up a basket before Baylor put in seven unanswered points to take their first lead of the night. The Shockers tied it at 17 with a put back from Braeuer after an offensive rebound under the basket.

The teams battled back and forth and Phillip Thomasson kept WSU in it, collecting six points during the stretch. The Bears broke away with a 9-0 run to close the half and took a 36-28 lead into the locker room.
 
Baylor shot 45.2 percent at the half, helped by 6-for-12 shooting from behind the arc. Wichita State out-rebounded the Bears 25-18, with 11 coming on the offensive end, and in the physical half the Shockers were credited with four blocked shots. Baylor started the game with two turnovers, but sharpened their play and only had a total of three in the half, compared to WSU's seven.

A Phil Thomasson dunk with just under seven minutes to play brought the Shockers to within six at 51-45, but Jerrells answered with a three-pointer on the other end of the court to give Baylor a nine-point cushion.

Matt Braeuer's three pointer followed by a Couisnard steal and a Mekel lay-in with five minutes to play brought the Shockers to within four at 54-50, but the Bears answered with another three to extend their lead to seven, 57-50, and never looked back on their way to a 64-55 win.

Wichita State out-rebounded the Bears 46-34 in the game. 

“I think we played very hard. I've got no fault with our effort,” Head Coach Gregg Marshall said. “I was proud of the effort, but not with the execution. We battled and battled, but they got the shots and we didn't. Our guys played hard and I was proud of that.”

The Shockers will play Monmouth, who dropped a 76-33 decision to Notre Dame in Friday night's game. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, Nov. 17.

 -Wichita State-