FORT WORTH, TX: The 24th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Men's Basketball team (17-8, 10-5 SAC) suffered a 79-78 loss at Southwestern Christian University (14-11, 8-8 SAC) as the Eagles erased a 16-point deficit in the second half.
The Rams led 58-42 midway through the second half, when the Eagles stormed back. Most of the damage came at the free throw line where the Eagles hit 18-of-25 in the second half and 22-of-29 in the game. Meanwhile the Rams, normally a very strong free throw shooting team, shot nearly 10% under their season average while hitting on just 12-of-34 attempts.
The Rams were rolling in the first half.
Juwan Jones and
Ryan Harris combined for 27 points while the Rams hit 7-of-15 long range shots to go up 38-26 at the break.
A three from Victor Diaz sparked the Eagles' comeback. Michael Williams followed with a pair of free throws, and a bucket from Trevor Mayon quickly cut the margin down to single digits at 58-49. In a 4-minute span, the Eagles outscored the Rams 19-4 to make it a one-point game (62-61) with 6:27 to play.
SCU took a 65-64 lead with another basket from Mayon. The Eagles pushed ahead by as many as five points, but the Rams did not go down without a fight.
Texas Wesleyan hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to get within a point with five seconds to play. SCU's Victor Diaz missed a pair at the line with 4.2 seconds to play to leave the door open. As the clock expired, the Rams raced down the floor, but their last-second three-point attempt missed its mark and SCU came away with the win.
For the game, the Rams outshot the Eagles 40.3%-39.1% from the floor and 35%-27% from 3-point range. Texas Wesleyan was +2 in the rebound column, but the difference in the game was the free throw line where the Eagles outscored the Rams 22-12.
Jones led all scorers with 26 points off the Texas Wesleyan bench. Harris added 20 points and 8 boards.
Curtiss Anderson and
Branden Jenkins both finished with 12 points.
Shawn Scott led the Eagles with 16 points, while Victor Diaz added 14, and Darius Madkin finished with 10.
The Rams are back in action Monday night, when they host rival Southwestern Assemblies of God University in an SAC contest. That game is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- Saturday's loss drops the Rams into a tie for second in the SAC standings. Texas Wesleyan and SAGU trail No. 15 Oklahoma City by just a half game.
- Texas Wesleyan leads the all-time series with SCU 8-4 while they fell to 49-40 all-time in SAC play.
- This was the 12th game of the season in which at least two Rams have scored 20 or more points.
- Texas Wesleyan leads the all-time series with SAGU 29-9.
