FORT WORTH, TX - Texas Wesleyan Men's Basketball (5-1) didn't score 124 points and a 65-point victory Monday night like it did last week against Dallas Christian. But the Rams got what they came for - a victory - 76-62 over Paul Quinn (1-2).

The Rams won the low-scoring, sometimes sluggish affair with defense. Paul Quinn scored 15 points the first five minutes of the game, then scored only 47 points the next 35 minutes. Texas Wesleyan clamped down after a fiery speech from Head Coach Brennan Shingleton during a timeout. LaMont Simmons led that charge, taking three charges during the affair. Peyton Sallee had three steals off the bench and Joe Cook-Green added two more.

Paul Quinn was the fourth consecutive opponent the Rams have held under 70 points, the longest streak since TXWES had a six-game winning streak from January 17-31 in 2011. Coming into the contest, the Rams were number one in the nation in three-point percentage defense (.200, Paul Quinn shot 6-of-24), 15th in field goal percentage defense (.382, Paul Quinn shot 34.3 percent) and 18th in turnover margin (5.2, Monday night's game favored Texas Wesleyan by one).

The defense helped the Rams take the lead and keep the lead in a game that featured 50 combined fouls, 43 combined turnovers and 28 missed free throws. After Sam Lorenzen's lay-up gave TXWES a 29-27 lead, the squad never surrendered. The Tigers chipped away multiple times, but Lorenzen delivered a dagger three from the wing with 2:04 to play, giving the Rams a 72-58 edge. Lorenzen led the offense with 20 points in 31 minutes.

Simmons hit all four of his free throws while contributing 12 points and five rebounds. Sallee added 10 points and six boards - also off the bench, a bench that out-scored Paul Quinn's 29-12 and has outscored all but one opponent (Midwestern State, 24-22) this season. In total, in all non-exhibition contests, TXWES' bench has outscored its opponents reserves 232-102.

Cook-Green added 11 points and three assists. The Rams had nine assists on the team's first 10 made baskets. 

Conference season starts for Texas Wesleyan Saturday at John Brown, which has put together a 6-0 non-conference start. The two have shared no common opponents to this point but the Golden Eagles play a top brand of defense too, ranking third nationally in rebounding defense (26.6) and eighth in scoring defense (61.0) per game.