SILOAM SPRINGS, AR: The 11th ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (13-4, 4-2 SAC) took an 83-73 win in Sooner Athletic Conference plat at John Brown University (9-9, 2-4 SAC) on Saturday. The Rams have won three straight to finish 3-1 on their current road trip.
The Rams started hot, building a 10-point lead in the first 3:30. A jumper from
Chris Gracela capped a 12-2 run to start the contest. Midway through the half, 6 unanswered points stretched the lead to 25-9. The Rams maintained a healthy advantage until the Golden Eagles dropped in jumpers from Luke Moyer and Nate Anderson in the final 38 seconds of the half to close to 37-32 at the break.
John Brown threatened twice in the second half, and each time the Rams had an answer. A three from Josh Bowling made it a 3-point game at 43-40 early in the period.
Jerell Ellis answered with a bucket, then got a steal and fed Gracela to quickly extend the lead to 47-40.
A three from Brady Griffin whittled the margin down to 4-points (68-64) with 3:19 to play, but
Sam Akano answered with a conventional 3-point play. The Rams proceeded to hit 13-of-14 free throw attempts in the closing minutes to seal the 83-73 victory.
For the game, John Brown outshot Texas Wesleyan 40.7% - 37.5% from the field. The Rams countered with a terrific day at the free throw line and by forcing 14 turnovers and controlling the boards (43-35). For the second straight game, the Rams were lights-out at the charity stripe. After hitting 14-of-16 at Bacone on Thursday, they converted 23-of-26 (88.5%) on Saturday.
Texas Wesleyan also led 17-4 in points off of turnovers and 32-23 in bench scoring.
Ellis led the Rams with 20 points while
Dion Rogers finished with 17 points.
BJ Batts and Akano came off the bench to contribute 12 points apiece. Gracela finished with 6 points and 10 rebounds.
Griffin led John Brown with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Ricky Roberts was the only other Eagle in double-figure scoring with 17 points.
The Rams will return to the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday, when they host Wayland Baptist University. That game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Saturday's win snapped a three-game skid against JBU. The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series 3-2. Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series with Texas Wesleyan 20-18.
- The Rams have won three in a row since moving up to 11th in the NAIA Coaches' Poll. The team went 3-1 on its current road trip.
- John Brown was coming off of back-to-back road wins at Oklahoma City University and at Southwestern Christian University.
