WESLEYAN'S WOES CONTINUE AT THE LINE
January 29, 2007

Box Score

HAWKINS, TX:  For the second consecutive game, poor free throw shooting led a loss for the Texas Wesleyan University men’s basketball team (12-5, 5-2 RRAC).  The Rams managed just 52% (13-of-25) from the line and fell by a final score of 70-59 at the hands of Jarvis Christian College (15-4, 5-3).

Early on it was a battle of guards between Texas Wesleyan’s CJ Higginbotham and Jarvis’ Brandon Martin.  Higginbotham opened the game with a pair of threes while Martin scored his team’s first ten points.  The game was tight until a pair of threes from Demarion Crite highlighted a 7-0 run that gave the Bulldogs a 33-23 lead with under four minutes remaining.  The Rams scored the final four points of the half from the free throw line and trailed 33-27 at the break.

Texas Wesleyan started hot in the second half.  A three from Higginbotham and a fast-break dunk from Kelvin Williams cut the deficit to one at 33-32 in the first forty seconds.  The Rams tied the game at 39 and again at 41, but Jarvis rattled off seven unanswered points to lead 48-41.

That lead swelled to ten at 54-44.  Texas Wesleyan then went on a 10-2 run to close within two, but Jarvis answered with a 7-1 run to lead 63-55 with just under five minutes to play.  Kelvin Williams scored on a put-back to close the gap to 63-58 with 2:59 on the clock, but Jarvis went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minutes to pull away for the 70-59 win.

Jarvis held Texas Wesleyan to 36% shooting from the floor and forced 20 turnovers.  Texas Wesleyan won the battle-of-the boards 43-39.

Evan Patterson scored a team-high 14 points while bringing down nine rebounds for the Rams.  Kelvin Williams recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  CJ Higginbotham finished with 12 points while Nino Etienne scored 10.

Jarvis was led by Demarion Crite’s 22 points and 10 boards.  Brandon Martin finished with just 14 points after scoring his team’s first ten points.