FORT WORTH, TX: Saturday's NAIA Division I Men's Basketball game of the week featured the 12th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Rams (12-2, 2-2 SAC) hosting the 8th ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Bison (14-2, 3-1 SAC). The battle lived up to the heavyweight billing, and the Bison used a second half push to earn a 101-90 win.
The Rams were hot out of the gate, running out to a 17-9 lead. The lead swelled to double-figures at 31-21 with 9:17 to play when the Bison came to life. An 11-2 run capped by a three from DJ Hervey cut the score to 33-32. OBU later used a three-point play from Aaron Abram to take the lead at 39-37, and the Bison went on to hold a narrow 46-44 margin at the break.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, OBU hitting at a 55% clip and Texas Wesleyan at 53%. The Bison however controlled the boards 21-10 and led 14-2 in second chance points thanks to eight offensive rebounds.
The second half remained tight until the Bison hit three-pointers on four consecutive possessions, the first three all from Byron Miller and the last from Hervey. That was part of a 14-5 run that left the score at 77-64.
A three from
Sam Akano cut the score to 84-80 with 5:12 to play. Miller followed with another three, but Akano answered on the ensuing possession to keep the Rams within reach at 87-83. The Bison pulled away with three layups and a pair of defensive stops. Oklahoma Baptist went 4-for-4 at three free throw line in the final 30 seconds to close out the 101-90 win.
"OBU won that game," commented head coach
Brennen Shingleton. "They won the rebounding battle, and more importantly they hit tough shots. We will be fine. This is a long season, and I believe in our leadership. We have to regroup and get back to finding out confidence in practice."
For the game, the Bison shot 59% from the floor, 40% from the line and 94% (14-15) at the free throw line. The Rams shot 54% from the floor, 45% from distance, and 77% from the stripe. The Rams forced 16 turnovers while committing 11. Texas Wesleyan also led 30-10 in fast break points and 24-6 bench points. The Bison controlled the boards to a 38-19 tune and a cool 22-4 advantage in second chance points.
Texas Wesleyan's
Sam Akano led all scorers with 27 points while
Jerrell Ellis finished with 26.
Merv Lindsay came off the bench to contribute 22 points.
The Bison were led by Miller's 23 points. Abram finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ty Allen added 22 points, and Cale Jackson finished with 19.
The Rams will return to action on Thursday, when they host John Brown University in Sooner Athletic Conference Action. That game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start in the Sid Richardson Center.
Ramblings
- The Rams are 10-20 all-time in Sooner Athletic Conference play, 6-10 against Oklahoma Baptist and 1-1 vs. John Brown.
- Texas Wesleyan's rebounding margin, which was +11.7 in the fall semester, is down to +7.6.
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Sam Akano has scored in double-figures in every game this season. He entered the game ranked 17th nationally in scoring and is now averaging 19.6 points per game.
