SHREVEPORT, Louisiana – The Texas Wesleyan men’s basketball team fell to LSU-Shreveport (20-5, 15-4 RRAC), 97-88 in a conference road battle on Monday night. The Pilots are currently ranked second in the RRAC and 20^th in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
 
The Rams (17-12, 10-11 RRAC) showed no hesitation against the Pilots and came out ready to play. Mo Weathers hit from beyond the arc to give the Rams a 14-point advantage at the 3:50 mark in the first half. Weathers posted his second-highest scoring game of the season as he led all scorers with 29 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Pilots forced a 14-1 run to close the gap before halftime, and made it a 1-point game at 45-44 entering the half.
 
At the start of the second half, the Pilots continued their run and recaptured the lead for the first time since the 11:15 mark in the first half. In the middle of the second period, the Pilots went on an 11-0 run to give them their first double-digit lead of the game at 85-75. The Rams responded and eventually cut the deficit to four points at 86-90 with only 1:27 to play.
 
Jazz Holman scored 12 points in the contest and came away with three rebounds and three assists. Oscar Griffin notched up 12 points as well and led the team in steals with four. The Rams capitalized with 25 points off of the 20 turnovers committed by the Pilots.
 
“We fought hard and the majority of our guys played to win,” said head coach Brennen Shingleton. “I am proud of that. We still have some major hurdles to jump in order to be ready for post season play. We are close, but sometimes the closer we get the harder it is to close the gap. We will continue to work at this and make adjustments but it’s really important that we all keep focused and stay motivated.”
 
Texas Wesleyan will close regular season action at home on Saturday, February 23^rd when the Rams host the University of St. Thomas (21-6, 14-5 RRAC) at the Sid Richardson Center. The game will mark senior day for the Rams with tip-off set at 4:00 p.m.