FORT WORTH, TX: The 20th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Men's Basketball team (19-8, 12-5 SAC) took a 72-59 Sooner Athletic Conference victory on the road against Bacone College (5-22, 1-6 SAC) on Thursday.
The Rams led wire-to-wire against the Warriors.
Branden Jenkins drilled a three on the game's opening possession. The lead hit double-figures when
Ryan Harris knocked down a three to push the score to 12-2.
As the first half wound down, Jenkins and
Jeremy Crane hit back-to-back three's during an 8-0 run that gave the Rams their largest lead of the game at 37-16. Texas Wesleyan went on to lead 38-21 at the break.
Bacone managed some resistance midway through the second half. An 11-0 run made it a two possession game (47-42) with 12:27 to play. However, the Rams had an immediate answer as they outscored the Warriors 13-2 over the next five minutes to regain control at 60-44.
The Rams won without having their best shooting night. The Warriors outshot the Rams 37%-36% from the field. Bacone was also +6 in the rebound column and held a +4 turnover margin. The Rams got it done form beyond the arc and at the free throw line. Texas Wesleyan knocked down 10 three-pointers to outscore Bacone 30-12 from long range. They also hit 18-of-21 (85.7%) free throws while Bacone got to the line for just six attempts in the game.
Branden Jenkins led all scorers with 29 points to go with a pair of assists and four steals.
Ryan Harris added 18 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.
Kevin Pritchett led four Warriors in double-figure scoring with 12 points.
The Rams are back in action on Saturday, when they travel to Siloam Springs, AR, to take on John Brown University. That game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start.
Ramblings
- The Rams are currently a half game behind No. 12 Oklahoma City for the top spot in the SAC standings. Those two teams will close out the regular season when they meet in Oklahoma City on February 24.
- Texas Wesleyan now leads the all-time series with Bacone 23-8, while they improved to 51-40 all-time in SAC play.
- Texas Wesleyan leads their next opponent, John Brown, 7-3 all-time.
- With three games to play, the top seven teams in the SAC standings are separated by only three games.
