FORT WORTH, TX: The 15th ranked Texas Wesleyan University Men's Basketball team (22-9) opened Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament play with a quarterfinal win over John Brown University (16-14). The Rams topped the Golden Eagles by a score of 90-78 to advance to Friday's semifinal round.
Texas Wesleyan shot 56% from the floor and 48% from long range while Ryan Harris went off for 28 points as the Rams blazed past the Eagles.
The game was fast and physical from the opening tip. The team's finally got a chance to catch their breath with 8:22 on the clock when trainers were called out to clean blood from the floor after a collision between Texas Wesleyan's Branden Jenkins and JBU's Marquis Waller (both players remained in the game).
John Brown kept the game tight early, but in the closing minutes of the first half, Jenkins threw down a monster dunk in transition that got the Sid Richardson Center crowd on its feet and sparked the Rams to a 10-2 run to close the period. After shooting 58% from the floor in the first half, the Rams led 46-32 at the break.
The lead swelled to 16 points before John Brown hit a flurry of threes to bring the margin back to single digits at 51-43. Rob Thomas and Ryan Harris knocked down threes of their own, and the Rams eventually extended the margin back to 16 at 69-53 with eight minutes to play.
From there the Rams held the Eagles at arm's length as they punched their ticket for a third consecutive trip to the SAC Semifinals.
Ryan Harris keyed the offensive performance, going for 28 points, four rebounds and five assists, while hitting 10-of-17 shots from the field and 6-of-10 from long range. "We just wanted to play hard and let everyone know that nothing will be easy against us," Harris said after the game.
Branden Jenkins added 13 points. Curtiss Anderson and Juwan Jones each scored 12, and Rob Thomas finished with 10 points.
JBU's Jake Caudle led all scorers with 31 points.
The Rams outscored the Eagles 36-22 in the paint and 29-3 in transition.
"The thing that impressed me the most tonight was how hard we worked on defense and how well we moved the ball," Head Coach Brennen Shingleton said after his team dished out 24 assists on 35 made baskets. "We have to play hard and play smart because we are going to get everybody's best shot."
The top-seeded Rams will take on fourth seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God University in semifinal action on Friday. SAGU advanced by defeating fifth seeded Southwestern Christian University on Tuesday. The semifinals and finals will take place on the campus of John Brown in Siloam Springs, AR.
Ramblings
- The Rams are now 3-4 all-time in SAC Tournament play. They lead the all-time series with John Brown 8-3.
- Texas Wesleyan leads the all-time series with SAGU 30-9 including a pair of wins this season. Their last meeting was a 76-74 win that was decided by a buzzer-beating three from Branden Jenkins.
