FORT WORTH – Texas Wesleyan Men's Basketball (8-10, 3-7 SAC) once again out-played their opponent in almost every category, but couldn't come away with the victory over Oklahoma City (9-6, 4-5 SAC) at the Sid Richardson Center Thursday night.
 
Get ready for a laundry list of won statistics: field goal percentage (46.2-45.5), assists (13-9), blocks (4-1), steals (10-9), points in the paint (28-26), points off turnovers (13-12), bench points (32-20) and second-chance points (10-9). It's the third consecutive loss the Rams have suffered despite shooting better from the floor. Those three losses have come by a combined ten points.
 
Juwan Jones found his shot Thursday, turning in a season-high 22 points on just 11 shots with three rebounds and an assist. Peyton Sallee finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
Rob Thomas scored nine and Dare Brazeal was well-rounded (eight points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks). Sam Lorenzen scored six points, but was heavily defended and only managed to get up seven shots in 28 minutes.
 
The first ten minutes, Oklahoma City ran the Rams off the three-point line not allowing Texas Wesleyan a single decent look at a deep shot. The Rams first made bucket for three came with 5:10 to go in the first half (Sallee).
 
Down by as many as 12 in the second half, the Rams' Jones drew a foul shooting a three, trailing by three – 63-60 with 4:59 remaining. Jones sunk all three from the line to tie the game. A series of unfortunate and unlucky events never allowed TXWES to take the lead.
 
Immediately following the made free throws, Sallee got a steal off the inbounds pass, dishing it to Joe Cook-Green, who was called for a charge on his way in to take the lead.
 
Later, Jones hit a two-pointer (71-68) with 1:17 to go. After forcing a turnover, the Rams took a timeout with 41 seconds left but before they could get the ball inbounded, Jones was called for an offensive foul.
 
71-68, with nine seconds to play, Dare Brazeal found Joe Cook-Green underneath the basket for a quick lay-up and a surprise foul as the ball rolled in. But Cook-Green couldn't convert the three-point play resulting in 1-for-2 made free throws from OCU's Trae Bryant on the other end.
 
With two seconds left, Jones had an opportunity to tie the game but missed a twisting layup inside. After Oklahoma City missed the front end of a 1-and-1, the Rams had one more chance, but turned the ball over on the inbounds pass – a bizarre whistle as the Rams attempted to switch in-bounders.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Texas Wesleyan Rams, who could be easily 6-4 and on a four-game winning streak, will face Southwestern Christian on the road Saturday, the only team in the conference above .500 not receiving votes in the most recent Top 25 poll. The Eagles haven't lost a game by more than nine points since a blowout loss on the road to Central Oklahoma November 17.