FORT WORTH, TX - Texas Wesleyan Men's Basketball (2-1) went toe-to-toe with the Bethel Threshers (5-0) Friday night in a thrilling end to the first day of the Texas Wesleyan Champions Classic at the Sid Richardson Center. Unfortunately for the Rams,
Davon Berry's heave at the buzzer from 2/3s court fell just short and Bethel escaped with a 75-72 victory.
The loss wiped away the Rams continued perfection in the early season, but if there was ever a time to feel good about a loss, TXWES should feel good about this one. For the third consecutive game, the Rams out-scored their opponent's bench and with 8:46 to go in the second half, Bethel built a 14-point lead, putting the Rams in a bind, but Texas Wesleyan slowly but surely worked out of the jam.
Just like the Rams win over Jarvis Christian, threes helped build some momentum.
Sam Lorenzen hit back-to-back threes to quickly trim the lead to eight and the Threshers got into some foul trouble as they started chasing.
Darian Pierce, who provided timely minutes and four points off the bench, knocked in a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three, 64-61, with 4:39 to play.
With 2:00 left and Bethel up 68-67, the Threshers leading scorer this season, Poe Bryant, was called for an offensive foul - the eighth offensive foul called on Bethel, the seventh due to the Rams' defense stepping in and taking a charge. Berry's lay-up on the next play gave TXWES the lead. The advantage changed hands 11 times in the game.
Coming into the contest, Bethel ranked 11th in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 97.8 points per game. The Rams held the Threshers to 22 points below their season average. It's the first three-game stretch TXWES has held opponents to under 76 points since the first three games of the NAIA National Tournament during the 2017 championship run.
Sam Lorenzen notched 20 points hitting four threes in the process, while Berry and
Joe Cook-Green each added 10 points.
The Rams will finish up the Champions Classic Saturday at 3 p.m. against Our Lady of the Lake University, which took out Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Oklahoma City in overtime in the first game of the Classic.
