KANSAS CIY, MO: The 10th ranked Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (26-7) survived a late scare from 8th ranked The Master's University (27-5) to take a 77-75 win Friday night and advance to the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championships.
With the win the Rams advance to the round of eight where they will take on the winner of Dalton State (GA) and Montana Western at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
The Rams dominated the bulk of the second half. Four straight free throws from
Najeal Young sparked an 11-2 run that put the Rams in command a 60-50 with seven minutes to play. Texas Wesleyan remained firmly in control at 71-61 with just over two minutes remaining.
Travis Yenor was fouled on a three-point shot and nailed all three free throws. He then knocked down a triple to quickly cut the margin down to four. Texas Wesleyan spent the remainder of the contest shooting high-pressure free throws where they made six of their last eight.
Leading 76-72 with seven seconds to play,
Dion Rogers came up with a huge block of a three-point attempt, but the ball went out of bounds to the Mustangs. Hansel Atencia hit a deep three to make it a one-point game (76-75) with two ticks remaining. Rogers hit one of two at the line, and a desperation heave from The Master's missed its mark.
Head Coach
Brennen Shingleton was excited for his team following the contest. "The emphasis today was who wanted it the most on the defensive side," Shingleton said. "I just can't tell you how proud I am of Ryan [Harrs] and Dion [Rogers] to accept the challenge of guarding those two big-time shooters. You can tell when somebody want to win, when nobody is selfish, and you just try to figure out how to get out of here with a win. I'm just excited right now that we were able to gut it out against a great team."
The Rams battled foul trouble all night long, eventually losing both
Najeal Young and
Naiel Smith. Young made the most of his time on the flour though, pouring in 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds in just 21 minutes.
In the closing minutes of the first half,
Dion Rogers converted a layup to give him 12 points in the period and an even 1,000 for his two-year career at Texas Wesleyan. Roger's is the 21st member of Texas Wesleyan's 1,000-Point Club and the first to reach the milestone since Brian Wanamaker (2009-11).
After trailing 37-36 at halftime, the Rams built their lead with terrific defense. The Master's managed just 27.8% shooting in the second half and only 36% for the game. Meanwhile the Rams hit at a 44% clip. The Rams were also +11 in the rebound column. The Mustangs forced 20 turnovers and led 19-15 in points off of those miscues.
Young's 21-point effort paced the Rams.
Ryan Harris finished with 19 points, and Rogers posted 18.
Trevon Jeffery added nine points and five rebounds in 21 minutes on the floor.
The Mustangs featured five players in double-figure scoring led by 16 apiece from Atencia and Delewis Johnson. Lawrence Russell and Reid Shackelford each had 13, and Travis Yenor finished with 10.
With the win, the Rams advance to the round of eight for the first time since winning it all in 2006. Their quarterfinal contest is scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and can be viewed live on NAIAnetwork.com.
Ramblings
- The Rams, in their 15
th NAIA National Tournament appearance now hold an all-time tournament record of 15-13 with one title (2006).
- This was the first ever meeting between Texas Wesleyan and The Master's.
- Texas Wesleyan's 26 wins are the program's most since winning 30 games in the 2010-11 season.
- This was Texas Wesleyan's first appearance in the round of 16 since 2010, and their quarterfinal appearance will be the program's first since winning the title in 2006.
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Dion Rogers ranks 21st on Texas Wesleyan's all-time scoring list with 1,007 points. Next on the list is Aaron Whaley at 1,015.
