FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University men's basketball team (13-6, 7-3 SAC) stayed red-hot with a 95-81 win over Southwestern Christian University (10-9, 4-6 SAC) on Saturday. The Rams are 7-0 in the 2018 calendar year and have climbed to the top of the Sooner Athletic Conference standings.
The hottest team in the country since the calendar turned to 2018, the Rams have averaged 94 points per game while shooting 50% from the field and outscoring their opponents by 13.2 points per game. The streak as the Rams in a three-way tie for the lead in the SAC standings at 7-3 in conference play.
The offensive juggernaut showed no signs of slowing down in the first half on Saturday. In the opening salvo, the Rams shot 57% from the field, 50% (9-18) from three and 91% at the free throw line.
After SCU took an early 7-5 lead, the Rams ripped off 18 unanswered points and never looked back. The hot shooting, paced by
Ryan Harris who threw in 20 points in the period, had the Rams firmly in command at 57-29 at the midway point.
The lead swelled to as many as 35 points, 66-31, early in the second half. The Eagles did make some headway by shooting 59% from the field and putting 52 points on the board in the second half, but it was much too late as the Rams went on to the 95-81 victory.
Harris was limited to five points in the second half to finish with 25 for the game, but
Branden Jenkins poured in 18 in the second half to finish with a game-high 27 points.
Juwan Jones added 14 points, and
Jeremy Crane posted 11 points.
Rob Thomas dished out nine of Texas Wesleyan's 21 assists, while
Curtiss Anderson added a solid line of 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots.
The Rams forced 18 turnovers while committing 14 themselves, but they led 29-16 in points off of those turnovers.
Shawn Scott led the Eagles with 18 points. Trevor Mayon finished with 11 and Victor Diaz added 10 points for SCU.
The Rams will return to action on Thursday, when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on Mid-America Christian University. That game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- The Rams are now 8-3 all-time against SCU while they improved to 46-38 in SAC play. Their next opponent, MACU, leads the all-time series 7-3 including a 77-71 Evangel win in mid-December.
- During the Rams' win streak,
Branden Jenkins is averaging 26.2 points per game while shooting 59% from the field and 52% from long range. For the season he ranks 6th in the NAIA with 22.5 points per game.
