FORT WORTH - Texas Wesleyan Men's Basketball (5-2) got off to a slow start but completely dominated the rest of a 92-61 rout over Our Lady of the Lake University (0-2) Saturday evening.

It was a very unusual first half. The Saints scored the first ten points and TXWES Head Coach Brennen Shingleton decided to put a new starting five on the floor. That move put a spark in the Rams, who then went on to score the next 11 points. Up 21-18, OLLU went cold ... very cold. The Saints missed their last 12 shots of the first half and in the final 9:03 did not score a point. Texas Wesleyan went on a 20-0 run to take a 41-18 lead into the break, with the bench producing 36 of the 41 points off the bench.

The streak didn't improve in the second frame. The Rams defense on the perimeter led by Justin Flakes, Joe Cook-Green and Sam Smith off the bench, kept up the pressure on OLLU forcing four more missed shots. Finally, the Saints scored a bucket with 18:04 to play in the second half - a Darin Minniefield runner in the paint. It was the Saints first point in 10:59 of game action. Our Lady of the Lake cut the deficit to 21 twice on four different occasions between the 14 and 10-minute marks in the second frame, but never could draw any closer.

The Rams bench finished with 51 points off the bench, led by 17 points, four assists and two steals from Flakes, on just 6-of-8 shooting. Sam Smith got near a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, while Dare Brazeal added 10 points too. Cook-Green hauled in a team-high 11 rebounds to go with his six points while Peyton Sallee also scored six and was the second of four players to rip away two steals.

The starters got things going in the second half, especially Juwan Jones. Jones scored all 15 of his points in a 5:47 stretch in the second half, 15 of the 20 points Texas Wesleyan scored in that stretch. Sam Lorenzen added 13 points, hitting three 3s.

Texas Wesleyan dominated the paint 44-16 and crushed the boards 37-11. Coming into the game, the Rams were 16th in the nation, holding opponents to 31 rebounds per game, a ranking that will most certainly be trending upward after Saturday night's rout. TXWES shot 61.8 percent from the floor, the fifth consecutive game the Rams have hit at least 50 percent of their shots.

WHAT'S NEXT
Texas Wesleyan will visit LSU-Shreveport for the back-end of a home-and-home series. The Rams defeated the Pilots 67-65 in the season opener, part of the Champions Classic. Since then, Shreveport has won two of four. It's the final game before Thanksgiving and before Sooner Athletic Conference play begins November 29 at the Sid Richardson Center vs. Bacone.