Complete Box Score

WAXAHACHIE, Texas - With over a week off since their last contest, the Rams showed no signs of rust, easily handling conference rival Southwestern Assemblies of God University in an 82-65 victory in Waxahachie.

After controlling the opening tip, the Rams turned to Kenny Johnson and James Whitfield as they jumped out to a four-point lead after two minutes. Whitfield opened the scoring with a 20-foot jumper from the right baseline, followed by a SAGU bucket from Dustin Robinson. Each team failed to connect on their next possession, before Johnson took a rebound and went coast-to-coast for an uncontested lay-up. Johnson then stole the ball on the next possession, and hit again to push the lead to 6-2.

The Lions responded with a three-pointer from Derek Willis and a lay-up from Robinson to take a one-point lead 3:33 into the contest, but it would be their only advantage of the night. Johnson hit another lay-up, and Aaron Whaley followed with his first bucket of the evening to give the Rams a 12-7 lead with 13:29 remaining in the half.

After a SAGU lay-up and free throw cut the lead to two with 11:48 left, Wesleyan scored 13 of the next 15 points to break the game open. Senior guard Marcus Johnson, seeing his first action of the year after off-season surgery, looked to be in mid-season form, scoring eight consecutive points in one stretch - all on drives to the basket - as the Rams went on a 23-9 run to close out the half with a 35-19 lead.

Marcus Johnson continued to impress as the second half began, taking the inbounds pass and scoring on another drive to the basket. Doug Freer hit a three-pointer for the Lions, but Wesleyan scored the next eight points (four each by Marcus Johnson and Whitfield) to open up a 23-point lead, their biggest lead of the night. David Johnson helped on the defensive end during the brief scoring run with three overpowering rejections that kept the Lion players timid and the Lion fans quiet.

SAGU, however, behind Freer and Robinson, eventually broke out of their slump and managed to rally for a 16-3 run over the next five minutes that cut the lead to ten points. Twice after, the Rams rebuilt the lead to 15 only to have SAGU knock it back down to ten. With 6:13 remaining, Marcus Johnson hit a three-pointer, and Whitfield and David Johnson added lay-ups over the next minute to extend the lead to 17 at 69-52. From there, Wesleyan cruised to victory.

After the game head coach Terry Waldrop was happy with the win, but really excited about the return of Marcus Johnson.

“It’s his first game back from injury, and he played very well,” said head coach Terry Waldrop. “He’s going to be a big part of this team this year, and I’m glad he came out ready to go. We needed him tonight.”

Marcus Johnson led all scorers with 24 points in 36 minutes of play. His ten rebounds gave him a double-double in his first game of the season. He also had six assists. David Johnson led the team with 12 rebounds. He also scored eight points and had seven blocks. Whitfield scored 18, Joey Gladney had eight, and Whaley finished with seven points. The Rams, despite a bad night (3-17) from three-point distance, connected on 50 percent of their shots in the game.

For the Lions, Robinson led with 21 points and had nine rebounds, and Freer scored 16. Phil Renz led all players with 14 rebounds. As a team, SAGU shot just 35 percent from the floor for the game, 24 percent from beyond the arc.

With the win, the Rams improve to 9-2 on the season, and remain undefeated in conference play at 2-0. They travel to Hawkins, Texas on Saturday to face Jarvis Christian College at 2:00 PM. The next home game for the Rams is on Monday, December 30th, against Concordia.