HIGGINBOTHAM DOES IT AGAIN!
January 25, 2007

Box Score

LANGSTON, OK:  For the second consecutive game Texas Wesleyan’s CJ Higginbotham drained a game-winning three at the buzzer.  This time his shot as time expired lifted the 4th ranked Rams (12-3, 5-0 RRAC) to a 54-53 win in front of a stunned crowd at Langston University (8-5, 6-2).

The Rams showed some rust from their 15-day layoff in the first half.  Langston jumped ahead 12-6 thanks to nine points from Reggie Dunn.  The Rams had to fight from behind throughout the period.  A pair of free throws from Evan Patterson with 3:22 on the clock closed the gap to three-points at 24-21, but Langston closed the half with six unanswered points and led 30-21 at the break.

Texas Wesleyan started the second half right.  On their first possession they got the ball to Higginbotham who drained his first of three three-pointers in the period.  That sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Rams a 31-30 lead.

With 13:06 on the clock Langston’s Ernest Carr hit a three to give the Lions a 36-34 lead.  The Lions stretched that lead to seven, but a technical foul on Leandrew Stewart sparked a 12-0 run that gave Texas Wesleyan a 48-43 lead with five minutes to play.

With 2:28 to play, Jonathan Rickett tipped in his own miss to give the Lions a 50-49 lead.  With 22 seconds to play, Stewart hit one-of-two at the line to give Langston a two-point lead at 53-51.  The Rams called timeout with 12 seconds remaining to set up for a final shot.  As the seconds ticked off, it appeared that they would be unable to get a shot off, but Higginbotham put up a running three as time expired to win the game 54-53.

“We wanted to run a set to CJ,” head coach Terry Waldrop said.  “It wasn’t exactly the way we drew it up, but CJ put it in.”  Waldrop went on to comment, “We didn’t play our best game, but we still gutted out a tough win in one of the toughest places to play in the conference.”

Higginbotham led the Rams with 15 points, including 13 in the second half.  Dane Dmitrovic finished with eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds.  Kelvin Williams just missed a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

Dunn led the Lions with 15 points after scoring 13 in the first half.

For the game, the Rams out shot the Lions 44%-39% and won the battle-of-the-boards 34-28.