LANGSTON, OK – Texas Wesleyan Men's Basketball (12-15, 7-12 SAC) came up just short Thursday night against the Langston Lions (20-7, 12-7 SAC), 77-72 after five minutes of bonus basketball that saw the two teams score 27 points combined in those crucial 300 seconds.
 
Langston scored the first seven points of overtime to pull ahead. This came after the Rams outscored the Lions 33-27 in the second half, a much more defensive and gritty game than the first shootout in Fort Worth on January 12, which ended 82-77.
 
Dare Brazeal was fouled off of an offensive rebound with two seconds left and hit 1-of-2 free throws to send the game to an extra third frame. With 6:23 to play in the second half, Langston led 58-53, then went that final stretch of the second half with just one made basket, missing their last five shots with two turnovers.
 
All five starters scored in double figures, led by Rob Thomas' 13. Sam Lorenzen and Joe Cook-Green scored 12 points while Peyton Sallee and Brazeal added 11.
 
Cook-Green tied his season high on the glass with 11 rebounds and earned a season high six assists – plus two steals. Brazeal grabbed eight rebounds with three assists. Justin Flakes chipped in nine points off the bench.
 
For the fifth-straight game, the Rams hit at least 10 threes. Lorenzen and Sallee each had three while Thomas and Cook-Green knocked in two. The Rams starting five played 198 of the 226 minutes in the game.
 
Langston's bench was suffocating, scoring 46 after the opening tip. Langston won despite shooting a decrepit 2-of-15 from deep.
 
Four times in the first half the Rams held narrow leads in the first half on shots made from downtown - a Lorenzen three (3-0), a Cook-Green three (6-4), a Thomas trey (15-13), another Lorenzen shot from deep (18-17).
 
Down 48-42 with 12:28 remaining in the second half, the Rams rallied, going on a mini 5-0 run to trim the gap to just a point. Brazeal's bucket with 3:52 to play in regulation put the Rams up 60-58, their first lead of the second 20-minute stretch.
 
STAYING EFFICIENT
Another close loss, but an underrated stat line from a roller-coaster season is the steady play of Thomas who – coming into the game with the Lions Thursday – ranked 11^th in the country in assist/turnover ratio (2.72). He had three assists and two turnovers against the Lions.
 
Thomas ranked 11th in the country last season in the same category after Naiel Smith placed third in assist/turnover ratio during the 2016-2017 season.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Texas Wesleyan heads to Central Christian Saturday at 3 p.m. and then will return home to the friendly confines of the Sid Richardson Center for their final two home games against Wayland Baptist (No. 10 in the most recent NAIA poll) and Oklahoma Panhandle State (Senior Day).