FORT WORTH, Texas - Senior Wesley Haynes had a season-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists to lead Texas Wesleyan over conference-foe UT-Permian Basin, 97-70, Saturday evening at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.

     After leading 49-38, at halftime, Texas Wesleyan used 53 percent shooting and seven three-pointers to blow open the game in the second half. The Rams had six players finish in double-figures scoring.

     "I thought we did the things we needed to do in the second half to seperate from Permian Basin," head coach Terry Waldrop said.  "Those things were to rebound, pick up our defensive focus and improve our shot selection, which we were able to do."

     UT-Permian Basin (0-12, 0-5 RRAC) opened up a seven-point lead, 8-1, in the first two minutes. The Falcons received three-pointers from Trey Strickland and Alfred Acosta, along with a bucket from Marcus Saunders.

     Texas Wesleyan (5-5, 2-1 RRAC) stormed back with a 32-17 run to take an eight-point lead, with five minutes left in the first half. Junior Joey Gladney led the charge with nine points and senior David Johnson added seven points.

     The Falcons closed the gap to three points at the 3:44 mark on the strength of two three-pointers by Lamar Cannon and one trey from Charncy Ephriam.

     The Rams ended the half on a 10-2 run, to take a 49-38 lead into the half. Haynes led the way with four free throws and sophomore Brad Schilder added a three-pointer.

     "I don't think we had the focus in the first half, especially on the defensive end that we needed to have," Waldrop said. "We made a few adjustments at halftime and our defensive effort and concentration in the second half was much improved and that in itself was the factor that led to the seperation midway through the half."

     In the second half, Texas Wesleyan increased its lead to 20, at the 11:04 mark. Haynes contributed nine points and junior Drew Busby chipped in two three pointers during the stretch.

     The Rams lead would increase their lead to as many as 30 before settling on the 27-point victory.

     Haynes finished the night, 5-of-10 from the field and a team-leading 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.

     "Wesley Haynes was a huge factor in the last two games, and when he plays with the energy and focus he has against our last two opponents we are a much tougher team," Waldrop said. "Our guard play is improving and our inside game, in particular our rebounding, has been carrying us the last two games. We got a wake up call in Houston when we were simply out hustled the last 10 minutes in a game that we could have won.  Hopefully we won't let games slip away like that again."

     Schilder had 12 points and seven assists, while Busby had 12 points on four three-pointers. Johnson tallied 13 points and eight rebounds and sophomore Jaison Fraizer added 10 points. Junior Anthony Martin led all players with 11 assists.

     Ephraim led the way for the Falcons with 19 points, while Cannon chipped in with 12 points.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 49 percent (33-68) from the field and 43 percent (12-28) from behind the arc. The Rams continue to struggle at the free-throw line, shooting 63 percent (19-30).

     UT-Permian Basin shot 39 percent (25-64) from the floor and 35 percent (12-34) from the three-point line. The Falcons also finished shooting a dismal 53 percent (8-of-15) from the charity stripe.

"We had balanced scoring, getting contributions from quite a few guys, including Drew Busby coming up with four three-point shots off the bench," Waldrop said. "He is capable of doing that, and we are just trying to get him to be consistent in his efforts on both ends of the floor. Hopefully he will be able to continue to improve."

     Texas Wesleyan returns to action Saturday when they host conference-foe SW Assemblies of God at 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live at www.ramsports.net.