Box Score

     FORT WORTH, Texas - Senior Tommy Johnson scored 29 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead Texas Wesleyan to a 103-95 victory over Wiley College Saturday evening in Red River Athletic Conference tournanment.

     Texas Wesleyan (13-7, 9-3 RRAC) opened the game hot, making its first six shots to take a 15-2 lead at the 17:17 mark of the first half. Junior Ben Hunt had the hot hand, scoring eight points during the opening run, while junior Scott Reasoner added four points.

     Wiley College (5-14, 4-8 RRAC) used an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the lead to 15-10. Sylvester Simple scored six of his 18 first-half points during the span.

     The Rams then extended their lead to 23, going on a 35-17 run over the next 11 minutes. Johnson scored six points during the stretch, while junior Mohammad Abdullah canned two trifectas off of the bench.

     The Wildcats ended the first half with 13-6 run to close the gap to 56-40, but the Rams shot an amazing 81 percent from the field.

     In the second half, the Wildcats came out on a 11-5 run in the first two minutes to cut the Ram lead to 60-51 with 17:56 remaining in the game. Back-to-back treys by Derek Smith kept Wiley College close.

     The Rams then went on a 30-15 run over the next 10 minutes to increase its lead to 90-66 with 7:22 remaining in the game. Johnson led the way with 18 second-half points.

     Wiley College made the game close cutting the lead to 98-93, with 22 seconds a game, but the Rams closed the game out by going 3-of-4 from the free-throw line to end the game.

     Hunt finished the game perfect from the field (8-of-8), which includes four treys during the game. Sophomore Nino Etienne came off the bench for a double-double, tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds.

     Simple led the Wildcats with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while Michael Essien added 14 points and nine rebounds.

     Texas Wesleyan shot 65 percent (37-57) from the floor and 62 percent (16-26) from the charity stripe. The Rams also shot 72 percent (13-18) from the three-point line.

     Wiley College shot 44 percent (37-85) from the field and 67 percent (14-21) from the free-throw line. The Wildcats also shot 28 percent (7-25) from behind the arc.

     Texas Wesleyan will be back in action Monday when they host conference-rival Wiley College. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Sid Richardson Gymnasium.