LAREDO, Texas - Junior Ben Hunt had his guns blazing as he went 7-10 from behind the arc for a career-high 29 points to lead Texas Wesleyan to a 96-73 victory over Texas A&M-International Wednesday afternoon at the TAMIU Kinesiology Building.

     "The strength of this basketball team is shooting the ball," head coach Terry Waldrop said. "Ben is one of the best shooters in the country and he proved that today."

     With the scored tied, 6-6 with 17:17 remaining in the first half, Texas Wesleyan (5-5, 4-1 RRAC) went on an 18-2 run in the next four minutes to take a 24-8 lead. The Rams hit five three-pointers during the run with Hunt knocking down four of them.

     Texas A&M-International (2-8, 2-3 RRAC) couldn't get back into the game as Wesleyan distanced themselves even more, taking a 55-34 lead at the break.

     In the first half, Hunt led the Rams with 15 points with all of them coming on treys. The Bendigo, Australia native, went 5-of-7 from downtown.

     A dunk by the Dustdevils' Kyle Edwards at the 14:19 mark of the second half cut the lead to 60-47.

     Texas Wesleyan used three more treys and some excellent free-throw shooting paved the way for their 23-point victory.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 52 percent (33-63) from the field and 81 percent (17-21) from the free-throw line. The Rams also shot 48 percent (13-27) from behind the arc.

     TAMU-International shot 46 percent (31-68) from the field and 40 percent (4-10) from the free-throw line. The Dustdevils also shot 30 percent (7-23) from behind the arc.

     Texas Wesleyan had five players in double figures, which includes Hunt. Senior Tommy Johnson tallied 20 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Nino Etienne added 14 points. Junior Khayri McKinney scored 11 points and added six assists, while junior Scott Reasoner registered 10 points.

     "We have played four of the top teams in the conference early and have done well," Waldrop said. "We had a lot more focus today than we had against Bacone. The guys were determined to not let that happen again."

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action December 28th when they host Morningside University in the Wings 'N' More Wesleyan Classic. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.