AUSTIN, Texas - Senior David Johnson tallied 19 points, 17 rebounds and eight blocks to lead Texas Wesleyan past Huston-Tillotson, 75-72, Monday evening in Red River Conference play.

     Texas Wesleyan (12-14, 8-8 RRAC) ruled the boards, outrebounding Huston-Tillotson, 47-42, and outscoring the home team in the paint, 48-26.

     "It was a hard-fought game and a tough victory for us," Johnson said. "I think our zone did well against them. Coach did a great job of switching up defenses and confused one of the highest scoring teams in our conference."

     The victory broke a five-game losing streak for Texas Wesleyan. The Rams had also lost seven of their last eight games before tonight's triumph.

     Texas Wesleyan opened up a 13-9 lead with 12:37 left in the first half on the strength of seven points from sophomore Brad Schilder. The Rams forced Tillotson into four early turnovers to spark the lead.

     Huston-Tillotson (10-14, 9-6 RRAC) then went on a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 25-15 lead with 8:52 left in the opening period. The Rams were led by Cedrick Harris' and Andre Jones' four points each during the stretch.

     Texas Wesleyan countered with a 28-9 run to close out the first half. The Rams received seven points from senior Wesley Haynes and two big treys from freshman Aaron Smith down the stretch in the opening session to take a 43-34 lead at the break.

     In the second half, junior Joey Gladney's layup at the 16:21 gave the Rams their largest lead, 53-37, with 15:19 remaining in the game.

     Tillotson hung tough, outscoring Texas Wesleyan, 33-16 over the next 14 minutes, to cut the lead to 70-69, with 1:16 reamining.

     Junior Anthony Martin took over from there, making 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute. Tillotson's Andre Jones hit a trey with eight seconds left to cut the lead back to one, but Johnson's thunderous dunk at the buzzer capped off the three-point victory.

     Haynes finished the evening with 13 points and eight rebounds to go along with two steals.

     "We played as a team tonight," Haynes said. "Some of our guys hit some shot that haven't been falling lately. It kept us in the game. Hopefully this victory will carry over into the next contest. There are a lot of positives from tonight's game."

     Along with Haynes and Johnson, three other Rams scored in double figures. Martin and Gladney both had 12 points while Schilder finished with 11. Martin also contributed four assists and three steals.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 45 percent (27-60) from the field and 68 percent (19-28) from the free-throw line. The Rams also shot 20 percent (2-10) from behind the arc.

     Huston Tillotson shot 31 percent (21-67) from the floor and 74 percent (23-31) from the charity stripe. The Rams also shot 37 percent (7-18) from the three-point line.

     Jerry Shorter led the way for Huston-Tillotson, tallying 22 points, while Harris finished the evening with 12 points and 17 rebounds. Jones led the Rams with four assists.

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action Saturday when it hosts Jarvis Christian at 7:30 p.m., at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.