Box Score

     FORT WORTH, Texas - Senior Tommy Johnson scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help Texas Wesleyan to a 100-95 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God Monday evening in Red River Athletic Conference action.

     Texas Wesleyan (16-9, 12-5 RRAC) opened the game on a 17-10 run led by 11 points from Johnson during the span. The seven-point lead got the Rams going early.

     SW Assemblies of God (11-16, 9-8 RRAC) fought back with a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to 23-21, with 10:28 left in the first half. Jason Johnson led the charge with four points during the stretch.

     The Rams then went on a 33-23 run to end the first half. Johnson had a monster first half, registering 19 points and nine rebounds, while junior Khayri McKinney had five assists in the first frame.

     In the second half, the Lions came out firing using a 13-4 run in the first five minutes to cut the lead to 60-57, with 15:08 remaining. The Rams came out sluggish, not connecting on a field goal until a trey from McKinney at the 12:51 of the second frame put Texas Wesleyan ahead 67-57.
SW Assemblies of God cut the lead back down to three, 86-83, with 4:51 remaining in the game. Canian Drew led the Lions on its 26-19 run, scoring 15 points during the run that lasted eight minutes.

     The Rams held off the Lions, going 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the three minutes. Johnson set a school record, going 19-of-20 from the free-throw line. The 19 makes from the free-throw line were good enough to surpass last year's 18 makes by Jaison Frasier against Sterling College. The 20 attempts tied the school record also set by Frasier last season.

     Texas Wesleyan received quality minutes off of the bench from junior Muhammad Abdullah and sophomore CJ Higginbotham. Abdullah scored eight points and dished out an assist. The Atlanta, Ga. Also did a fantastic defensive job on SAGU's 6-7 forward, holding the team's leading scorer to 7-of-19 shooting and three turnovers. Higginbotham also tallied eight points, pulled down three rebounds and dished out two assists in 13 minutes of work.

     "Mo (Abdullah) and CJ did outstanding jobs for us tonight," head coach Terry Waldrop said. "Mo played great defensively and CJ was a spark offensively to get thus team going. They continue to work hard everyday in practice and it is great to see it pay off tonight."

     McKinney led all players with seven assists to go along with his 14 points, while junior Ben Hunt had 12 points and seven rebounds in what many would consider an off night for him.

     Johnson led SAGU with 312 points, while he grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. Drew came off of the bench for the Lions to score 22 points and register five rebounds.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 46 percent (25-54) from the floor and 83 percent (39-47) from the charity stripe. The Rams also shot 48 percent (11-23) from the three-point line.

     SW Assemblies of God shot 46 percent (31-68) from the field and 85 percent (22-26) from the free-throw line. The Lions also shot 58 percent (11-19) from behind the arc.

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action Thursday when it travels to take on conference-rival Texas College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Tyler, Texas. The Rams lost to the Steers, 77-69, Jan. 13th, in Fort Worth. The Rams are currently in third place in the Red River Athletic Conference, three games behind Langston, and one and a half games ahead of Texas A&M-International. Check www.redriverconference.com for complete standings.