HAWKINS, Texas - Marcus Johnson followed up Thursday’s scoring outburst against Southwestern Assemblies of God with another strong performance, and Kenny Johnson had a hot hand as well, as the Rams defeated conference rival Jarvis Christian College 78-67 on Saturday in Hawkins.

The Rams opened the game as they seemingly always do, gunning from the outside. Aaron Whaley nailed a three-pointer to begin the scoring, but the Bulldogs seemed to control the early tempo. A pair of back-to-back lay-ups gave them a one-point lead, which they would hold for a few minutes as both teams scored on nearly every offensive possession.

A goaltending call on David Johnson five minutes into the contest gave Jarvis Christian an 11-10 lead, but it would prove to be their last. After being fouled during a dunk attempt at the other end of the floor, David hit both free throws and sparked the Rams to a 22-4 run over the next 11 minutes, which would keep the Bulldogs in catch-up mode for the rest of the afternoon.

The Bulldogs did manage a pair of nice driving lay-ups towards the end of the half, but the Marcus and Kenny Johnson did the same for the Rams, who took a commanding 36-19 lead into the break.

Jarvis Christian opened the scoring in the second frame by hitting a single free throw, but the Rams extended their already huge lead by scoring the game’s next eight points. Marcus Johnson nailed a 20-foot jumper, and Kenny Johnson dropped in a finger roll and a free throw before James Whitfield connected for his only three-pointer of the game. That brought the score to 44-20 with under 15 minutes to play, and the Rams looked like they could win it in cruise control.

The Bulldogs, however, showed some resolve by making a game out of it, finally connecting on a few NBA-length three-pointers (they had missed several long attempts previously). They went on a run of their own, outscoring the Rams 30-11 over the next ten minutes to pull within five points at 55-50.

Coach Waldrop called a timeout to settle his players down, and Marcus and Kenny Johnson responded, combining to score eight consecutive points, opening up a 13-point lead for Wesleyan. With little time left, Jarvis Christian resorted to sending the Rams to the free throw line, but that failed to make any difference. Marcus Johnson, Whaley and James Whitfield combined to hit seven of ten free throws in the waning minutes to seal the 11-point victory for the Rams.

Marcus Johnson, in only his second game of the season, torched the Bulldogs for 27 points, including 14 free throws, and added eight rebounds and six assists. Kenny Johnson scored 19 and had 11 boards, for his first double-double of the season. Whaley scored 14, David Johnson had eight, Whitfield had six, and Brad Schilder added four points for the Rams, who improve to 10-2 on the season, and remain undefeated in conference play at 3-0.

Their next game is a non-conference affair against Concordia University on December 30 in the Sid Richardson Gymnasium. Tip-off is at 2:00 PM.