FORT WORTH – After a solid first 18 minutes, Texas Wesleyan (6-3, 1-1 SAC) slipped behind just before the half and then – despite multiple pushes – couldn't quite pull ahead in a 80-65 loss to John Brown (7-2, 3-0 SAC) Saturday afternoon at the Sid Richardson Center.
Tied at 31 with 3:35 to play in the first half, John Brown cobbled together 11 of the half's last 15 points. While that isn't a huge swing, there was rarely any opportunity for either team to string together consecutive baskets, so when mini-runs did occur, they were deadly.
Texas Wesleyan put one together in the second half. Down 59-49 with 10:19 to play in the ball game, Sam Lorenzen hit a bucket with 9:44 to play, Juwan Jones nailed a three with 8:58 to go and – after a Diing Lwal Diing free throw – Jones hit another three from deep on the right wing to cap a 9-0 run with 7:36 remaining.
That would be as close as the Rams would get. John Brown scored 10 of the next 13 points and Texas Wesleyan went cold down the stretch. But the Rams didn't miss much before the drought, especially in the first half. At halftime, Jones, Julian Torres and Sam Smith went a combined 8-of-8 from the floor and the Rams were shooting a fiery 56 percent.
Jones completed the game with a team-high 15 points, only missing one shot. Torres had 11, doing all of his damage in the second half from the line, drawing fouls from John Brown's tenacious zone defense on five different occasions. John Brown only had 16 points in the paint, compared to the Rams' 30, but their 12 threes and 28 free throws ended up mattering more. The Golden Eagles were third in the NAIA through eight games, averaging 12.8 threes made per contest.
The loss is just the fourth to John Brown in 12 meetings. The Rams have dominated the all-time series, including an eight-game winning streak over the last four years.
WHAT'S NEXT
Texas Wesleyan has quite the light December. Outside of a road trip to the University of Science and Arts on Thursday December 13 and a home tilt against Mid-America Christian on Saturday December 15, the Rams won't play. The Rams crammed six games into the first 12 days of the regular season and are done with their non-conference schedule.
