Box Score

     HOUSTON, Texas - Senior Tommy Johnson tallied 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists, but that was not enough as Texas Wesleyan fell to conference-leader Houston Baptist, 92-87 at Sharp Gymnasium Saturday evening in Red River Athletic Conference action.

     Texas Wesleyan (11-7, 7-3 RRAC) played even with the Huskies, battling to a 19-19 tie at the 10:44 mark of the first half. The Rams were led by senior Vince Williams who poured in six points off of the bench, while Johnson added five points during the stretch. The home team received five points each from Matt Autenrieth and Corey Thomas to spark the Huskies.

     Houston Baptist (12-6, 9-1 RRAC) then went on a 14-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 33-23 lead with 6:31 remaining before the break. Ben McCain rallied the troops with two buckets off of the bench.

     The Huskies extended its lead to 13 at the break with the help of 10 first-half points from Bryn Caulkins.

     In the second half, Houston Baptist raced out to up its lead to 58-40, at the 15:56 mark. Pablo Avila led the cause, canning three buckets in the four-minute span.

     The Rams then got hot from outside canning six treys over the next eight minutes to cut the lead to 73-70, with 7:29 remaining in the contest. Junior Ben Hunt came alive in the second half to score 13 points during the 30-15 run. The Bendigo, Australia native, canned four shots from behind the arc during the span.

     The two teams traded buckets down the stretch, as the Rams were never able to get any closer than that three-point margin.

     Hunt provided another solid performance, registering 22 points and eight rebounds, with 17 of those points coming in the second half to get the Rams back in the game. Junior Scott Reasoner had 11 points and seven rebounds, while Williams added nine points and four rebounds in 13 minutes off of the bench.

     Chris Green paced Houston Baptist with 18 points and eight rebounds, while last year's RRAC Player of the Year, Rickey Bennett tallied 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 41 percent (30-73) from the floor and 61 percent (17-28) from the charity stripe. The Rams also shot 33 percent (10-30) from the three-point line.

     Houston Baptist shot 49 percent (31-63) from the field and 86 percent (24-28) from the free-throw line. The Huskies also shot 43 percent (6-14) from behind the arc.

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action Monday when they travel to take on conference-rival Huston-Tillotson. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Austin. The Rams defeated Huston-Tillotson both times last season.