BETHANY, OK: It came down to the wire, but the 13th ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (10-4, 2-2 SAC) could not get a last second shot to fall and Southwestern Christian University (5-7, 2-2 SAC) came away with a 62-60 win at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium on Saturday.
The game seemed destined to be decided in the final seconds as neither team could build a double-figure advantage. With 12 seconds to play,
Jerell Ellis came up with a huge steal to give the Rams a chance.
Brennen Shingleton called timeout with six seconds to play to go over the last-second scenario with his team.
Dion Rogers took a shot at the lead, but missed the mark. Roger's three-pointer came with just enough time for Ellis to grab the offensive board and try to send the game to overtime; however he could not get the shot to go and the Eagles escaped with the win.
The Rams nursed a slender advantage through most of the first half, but SCU ripped off 13 unanswered points (including 9 from Shawn Scott) to take their largest lead of the game at 27-18 with two minutes remaining in the period. Three's from
Chris Gracela and
Doug Compton got the Rams off the mat, and the Eagles lead was only five (29-25) at the intermission.
The Eagles never gained any separation in the second half, but they also never relinquished the lead. SCU led 59-54 with just over three minutes to play. A traditional 3-point play from
Trevon Jeffery cut the margin to two. Scott then answered Jeffery's effort with a triple of his own.
The score remained 62-57 in the final minute, when Ellis knocked down a trey with an assist from Rogers.
Henry Buckley blocked James Still on SCU's next possession, but the ball went out of bounds to the Eagles. Seconds later, Ellis came up with the steal to give the Rams a look at the win.
SCU shot 40% from the field and helped themselves with 8-of-9 at the free throw line while holding the Rams to their worst shooting night of the season. Texas Wesleyan shot just 30.9% from the field and only 22.7% from long range (both season lows). The Rams also left points at the line where they were just 13-of-20 (65%).
Ellis led all scorers with 19 points while grabbing 9 rebounds. Jeffery posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Scott led the Eagles with 18 points. Willie Harper finished with 13 points, and Marvin White contributed 11. Gabi Laurent added 5 points and 12 rebounds for SCU.
The Rams will return to action on Monday when they travel to Dallas to take on Paul Quinn College in their final non-conference tilt of the season. That game is scheduled for an 7:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Southwestern Christian is in its first season under the direction of former Baylor, Oklahoma, and SMU head coach Dave Bliss.
- The Eagles have won two in a row against Texas Wesleyan, but the Rams lead the all-time series 5-2.
- Texas Wesleyan has dominated the all-time series with Paul Quinn 25-7.
