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Box Score

     FORT WORTH, Texas - The Texas Wesleyan men's basketball team shot 65 percent from the floor and from behind the arc to hold off Morningside, 101-97, in the opening night of the Wings "N" More Wesleyan Classic Tuesday evening at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.

     Texas Wesleyan (6-5) placed five players in double figures with senior Tommy Johnson leading the way with 24 points. The Oklahoma City, Okla. native, canned six three pointers, with five of them coming in the first half. The Rams followed suit as they tallied 12 treys in the first period.

     Also chipping in for the Rams were juniors Ben Hunt and Khayri McKinney who both totaled 17 points. McKinney also had eight assists, while Hunt registered seven assists.

     In the first half, both teams traded shots, racing to a 26-26 tie, with 10:30 remaining in the half. McKinney canned three treys, while Morningside's Paul Larsen's hit four of his own.

     Then Johnson started to take over for the Rams as he made four three-pointers over the next three minutes to give Texas Wesleyan a 39-32 lead with 8:25 remaining left in the first half.

     In the second half, Morningside (7-7) cut the lead to 82-80, with 10:08 minutes remaining in the game. David Finklea led the way for the Mustangs with nine points during the 30-19 run by the visitors from Iowa.

     Texas Wesleyan pushed the lead to nine points, 92-83, at the 5:30 left in the final period.
The Mustangs would come as close as 99-97, on a layup by Eddie Ceaser with 33 seconds remaining, but Tom Regan committed a flagrant foul with two seconds remaining as McKinney nailed two free-throws for the final margin.

     The Rams also shot a dismal 50 percent (10-20) from the charity stripe.

     Morningside shot 51 percent (38-75) from the floor and 54 percent from the free-throw line. The Mustangs also shot 47 percent (14-30) from the three-point line.

     Morningside outrebounded the Rams, 35-34, and each turned the ball over 22 times and 26 times respectively.

     Larsen topped all Mustang scorers with 18 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the three-point line. Ceaser chipped 17 points and eight assists.

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action December 29th when they host Missouri Valley in the Wings 'N' More Wesleyan Classic. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.

     In other tourney action, LSU-Shreveport defeated Missouri Valley, 84-79 in the opening game.