FORT WORTH, Texas - Senior David Johnson tallied 23 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Wesleyan hung on to defeat Sterling College, 83-78, Tuesday afternoon at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.

     Texas Wesleyan (8-5) had a 10-point lead with 4:04 remaining in the game. Sterling put together a 9-1 run, capped off by tip-in dunk by Mandrae Collins off of a missed three-pointer, to cut the Ram lead to two with 47 seconds left. Sophomore Brad Schilder made his first free-throw and missed his second, but Johnson was there for the tip in to put Texas Wesleyan back up by five, with 43 seconds left. Three free throws by junior Anthony Martin down the stretch preserved the Rams fourth straight victory.

     "We did a lot of good things today, but we are still making too many mistakes," head coach Terry Waldrop said. "Offensively, we played as well as we have all season. We need to grow up a little as a team and today really helped us."

     Johnson's free throw at the 11:32 mark pushed the Ram lead to seven, 24-17. Johnson led the way with 12 points and junior Joey Gladney added 10 points during the stretch.

     Sterling (1-11) fought back with 6-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to one, at the 9:48 mark of the first half. During the run, Collins hit a three-pointer and Patrick Williams added a layup.

     The Rams then exploded, outscoring Sterling, 26-10, over the last nine minutes of the first half to take a 17-point lead at the break. Gladney led the way scoring seven points down the stretch, while freshman Aaron Smith canned two treys.

     In the second half, the Warriors came out firing on all cylinders, outscoring the Rams, 30-16 in the first 10 minutes. Collins three-pointer at the 10:38 mark cut Texas Wesleyan's lead to three, 66-63.

     The Rams pushed the lead to 10 at the 4:04 mark.

     Gladney finished the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Wesley Haynes added 16 and Schilder had 15 points and five assists. Martin led the Rams with nine assists.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 55 percent (28-51) from the field and 43 percent (6-14) from behind the arc. The Rams also shot 72 percent (21-29) from the charity stripe.

     Sterling shot a combined 49 percent (27-55) from the floor and 50 percent (12-24) from three-point land. The Warriors also shot 71 percent (12-17) from the free-throw line.

     "Sterling is a good team and they tested us today," Waldrop said. "They are solid in many aspects. Their record doesn't show how good they really are."

     Texas Wesleyan returns to action this weekend when they travel to take part in the Sleep Inn Classic. The Rams will play Southern Nazarene on Friday at 8 p.m., and host Oklahoma Christian on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.