PLAINVIEW, TX: The 3rd ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (23-6, 14-4 SAC) closed out the regular season with a tough 87-75 loss at Wayland Baptist University (18-11, 10-8 SAC) on Saturday. At 14-4 in conference play, the Rams are the regular season Sooner Athletic Conference Champion and will be the top seed in next week's SAC Tournament.
The Rams had a tough shooting night on Saturday as the Pioneers held them to their lowest shooting percentage of the season at 30.7% from the floor. Meanwhile the Rams managed just 4-of-24 (16.7%) long range attempts.
The Pioneers on the other hand were red-hot. Wayland shot 65.4% in the first half while draining 8-of-16 (50%) of their 3-point attempts in the half. For the game, the Pioneers hit 53.2% from the floor and 42.1% from distance.
The game was close in the early going. A pair of free throws from
Jerell Ellis made it a one-possession game at 32-30, but the Pioneers went on a 20-4 run to open a 52-34 lead on their way to a commanding 55-38 advantage at the break.
The Rams did not go down without a fight. A conventional 3-point play from Ellis and a triple from
BJ Batts bookended a 12-1 run to open the second half and cut the margin down to 56-50.
Midway through the second half, 8 unanswered points form WBU stretched the Pioneers' advantage to 70-57, and Texas Wesleyan was unable to recover.
Batts and Ellis led the Rams with 14 points apiece.
Dion Rogers and
Sam Akano each contributed 10.
Chris Gracela pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds while scoring 8 points and handing out 4 assists.
Trevon Jeffery finished with 7 points and 10 boards.
WBU's Robert Waters led all scorers with 23 points. Jordon Johnson finished with 15, Robert Lopez scored 12, and Maurice Redmond contributed 10 points for the Pioneers.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University will host next week's SAC Tournament in Waxahachie, TX. The Rams open with a quarterfinal contest on Thursday.
Ramblings
- Wayland Baptist leads the all-time series with Texas Wesleyan 21-19.
- Texas Wesleyan' s SAC Championship is the program's 22nd conference or district championship and the first since winning the Red River Athletic Conference in the 2010-11 season.
