Waco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Kenny Chery netted 12 of his 20 points in overtime and dished out 10 assists as No. 12 Baylor held off Northwestern State, 91-84, on Wednesday night.
Jalan West nailed a game-tying 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation to send the game into an extra session, where Baylor (9-1) used a 10-2 run to put the game away.
West's triple concluded a wild sequence.
West tried to feed DeQuan Hicks in the post on the right block, but Hicks lost his balance once he got the pass and attempted to save the ball from going out of bounds by throwing it off a Baylor player. The ball went right to West, who took a dribble to his left and knocked down the straightaway 3.
"I thought I missed it, but when I saw it go in I was pretty excited," West said.
A Brison White jumper pulled the Demons within 82-80 with 2:12 to go in overtime before Chery drove in for an uncontested layup, drained a triple and sunk two free throws on three straight trips down the floor to cap the surge and make it 89-80 with 25 ticks remaining.
Cory Jefferson had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears, who have won three straight since falling to Syracuse in the Maui Invitational title game on Nov. 27.
"They did a really good job of shortening the game," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "With a real good point guard it is tough to take them out of that, but we had some opportunities where we were up nine, but we never pushed it to where that style would not work anymore."
West finished with 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Northwestern State (4-6), which has dropped six of its last eight.
The game was tied 38-38 at the break before Jefferson scored six points during a 13-5 swing, which was capped on Taurean Prince's three-point play for a 54-45 Baylor advantage with 15:08 left in the second half.
Gary Franklin's behind-the-back pass to Jefferson for an emphatic dunk gave Baylor a 74-69 edge with less than three minutes left in the period, but consecutive jumpers by West and White whittled the deficit to 74-73 with 1:11 to go.
Jefferson then sunk a pair of foul shots before West knotted the game.
Game Notes
Baylor played its first game in 12 days ... Rico Gathers had 19 points and 10 boards for the Bears.
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