FORT WORTH, TX: The 13th ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (14-4, 5-2 SAC) took a hard-fought 86-84 win over Wayland Baptist University (11-7, 3-4 SAC) at the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday.
The Rams came out firing and took a quick 8-2 lead over the Pioneers. The lead swelled to double-figures at 20-10, and a
Chris Gracela steal and no look pass that hit a streaking
Sam Akano for a dunk worked the home crowd into a frenzy as the Rams took the largest lead of the game at 36-19.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Marshall Nelson settled WBU down and the Pioneers began to chip away at the margin. A 9-1 run that included two more triples from Nelson cut the score down to 42-37 with just under four minutes to go in the half, and the Rams went on to lead 47-44 at the break.
The game remained tight throughout the second half. A jumper from Anietie Jack tied the score at 61-61 midway through the period. The Rams answered with a bucket from
BJ Batts and later pulled away 76-67 after a 15-foot jumper from
Henry Buckley.
A three from Robert Waters capped a 9-1 run that brought the score to 77-76. Another three from Waters tied the game at 79-79 with 1:44 to play. Batts gave the lead back to Texas Wesleyan with a pair of free throws. Two possessions later, Buckley blocked a layup from Jordon Johnson, and
Jerell Ellis proceeded to knock down two free throws that brought the score to 82-79 with 23 seconds on the clock.
Wayland Baptist got a quick bucket from Jordan Tolbert, but two free throws from
Doug Compton sealed the game.
Dion Rogers added 1-of-2 at the line to give the Rams a 5-point cushion (86-81) with 2.9 seconds to play. Waters hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to account for the 86-84 final score.
Both teams shot well from the field. The Rams hit at a 54% clip while the Pioneers hit 53%. The Rams led 40-28 in points in the paint and a 38-23 rebounding margin led to a 15-4 differential in 2nd-chance points. Wayland countered with a long range attack that included 13-of-23 (57%) 3-point attempts while the Rams hit just 3-of-12 (25%).
Akano led five Rams in double-figure scoring with 19 points. Ellis finished with 15 points. Batts added 14 points, while
Trevon Jeffery and
Dion Rogers posted 13 and 12 respectively. Gracela contributed 4 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
Waters led all scorers with 32 points. Maurice Redmond added 17. Nelson finished with 12, and Jack scored 10 points for WBU.
The Rams will return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Shawnee, OK, to take on St. Gregory's University. That game is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series 20-19. Texas Wesleyan leads the all-time series with St. Gregory's 5-4.
- Waters entered the game ranked 2nd in the SAC and 7th in the nation in scoring at 22.4 points per game. His 32 points are the most scored by a Texas Wesleyan opponent this season.
- The Rams remain undefeated at home this season at 7-0 in the SRC.
