HOUSTON, Texas - In a battle for first place in the Red River Conference, seventh-ranked Houston Baptist withstood an early barrage from the Rams, put up a big lead of their own, then held on for the victory.

Aaron Whaley opened up the game on fire for the Rams, briefly silencing the crowd of 800. He scored the team’s first eight points, connecting on a pair of three-pointers and driving for a lay-up, as Wesleyan raced out to an early lead. James Whitfield then buried a three-pointer to put the Rams up by seven at 11-4, just three minutes into the game. The Huskies would battle back to tie the score at 11, but David Johnson’s emphatic dunk put Wesleyan back ahead at the five-minute mark. As it turned out, it would be the Rams’ last lead of the night.

Rod Nealy, the NAIA’s leading scorer, knocked down eight points to spark a four-minute, 22-4 HBU rally, which put the Huskies ahead by 12 with 11 minutes until the break. Over the next several minutes that lead held steady, but Elester Whitmore connected on a pair of late three-pointers for the Huskies, and the Rams managed only six points in the final five minutes of the half. As a result, Houston Baptist took a 56-35 lead into the break.

The Rams came out running in the second frame, but couldn’t seem to find the net. HBU, shooting extremely well all night, scored eight of the half’s first ten points, pushing the lead out to 27 points at 64-37 with 16 minutes to play. The Rams, paced by Marcus and David Johnson, managed to narrow that gap to 18 on two different occasions, but could get no closer than the final margin. The Huskies held on for the 89-71 win, ending Wesleyan’s perfect record in conference play thus far, and wresting the conference lead from the Rams.

The Huskies had five players reach double figures in scoring, led by Nealy with 26. Whitmore and Josh Brian finished with 18 apiece, and Michael Holmquist and Blane Vincent each scored ten off the bench. Brian led all players with 18 rebounds on the night, and Nealy finished with 12. The Huskies shot an impressive 53 percent from the floor on the night, and doubled up on the Rams in the rebound column, 52-26.

For Wesleyan, Marcus Johnson finished with 22 points on eight of 20 shooting, connecting on three of five from beyond the arc. David Johnson also played well, scoring 16, grabbing eight rebounds, and posting four assists, three steals and three blocks. Whitfield reached double figures for the Rams as well, scoring 12. He also recorded four assists. Whaley finished with eight points and Kenny Johnson scored six. Brad Schilder and Joey Gladney came off the bench to score five and two, respectively.

With the loss, The Rams fall to 14-5 on the year and 6-1 in Red River Conference play. They now sit a half game behind Houston Baptist (15-2, 7-1) in the conference standings.

The team travels to Oklahoma on Saturday, January 25, to square off against Langston University, then stays up north to face Bacone College on Monday evening. The Rams’ next home game is on February 1 against Southwestern Assemblies of God University. That game tips off at 7:30 PM.