RAMS WIN A THRILLER
January 25, 2006

FORT WORTH, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan University men’s basketball team (10-6, 7-2 RRAC) won an intense Red River Athletic Conference contest in the Sid Richardson Center on Wednesday.  The Rams topped the Texas College Steers (6-10, 5-5) by a score of 71-68.

The Rams jumped out to a 14-6 lead, but Texas College took the lead midway through the first half and led by as many as nine (20-29).  Four three-pointers, including a pair from Scott Reasoner brought the Rams back, and Texas Wesleyan led 38-34 at halftime.

Texas Wesleyan built their largest lead of the half when Ben Hunt hit a jumper in the lane with just over nine minutes to play, bringing the score to 57-49.  A jumper from Mario Kersey and a lay up from Joshua Armstrong put the Steers right back in the contest.  With 6:52 on the clock, Kersey converted a lay up to tie the game at 59.

The contest remained tied at 66 with 2:33 to play.  Omar Waller gave the Steers a two-point lead with a lay up, but Ben Hunt answered with a trey to put the Rams back on top 69-68. 

With nine seconds remaining, the score remained the same, and Texas College had the ball.  As the Steers brought the ball up the court, Reasoner came up with a steal and drew a foul with four seconds to play.  After Reasoner drained a pair of free throws, Czyz Bennett got a three-point attempt off, but his shot rimmed out and the Rams escaped with the 71-68 win.

Texas College out shot the Rams 46%-41%, but the Rams won the battle of the boards 41-32.  Texas Wesleyan also scored 15 points from the charity stripe while TC shot just 8-13 from the line.

Reasoner’s 19 points led the Rams.  Hunt finished with 16 points.  Evan Patterson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.  TC’s Kersey led all scorers with 30 points.

“Our rebounding was huge,” said head coach Terry Waldrop.  “This came down to the last couple of minutes, and we were able to get defensive stops and execute on offense.  We are not where we need to be yet, but it is coming.  When we put it all together, we will be pretty good.”

The Rams return to action on Saturday, January 28, when they travel to Jarvis College.  That game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a women’s game.