SOUTHWESTERN JINXES RAMS
January 2, 2008

Box Score

FORT WORH, TX:  The Southwestern College (7-5) men’s basketball team edged Texas Wesleyan University (7-6) 62-60 in the final seconds at the Sid Richardson Center on Wednesday.

Southwestern held the lead for the majority of the contest.  After Texas Wesleyan took an early 4-2 lead, the Jinx used an 18-5 run to gain control.  Southwestern shot 54% from the field in the first half and led 32-26 at the break.

In the second half, Ryan Barnes and Kennith Gober scored the Rams’ first 13 points, and Texas Wesleyan cut the gap to one point at 40-39 with 14 minutes to play.  Southwestern continued to lead until the Rams tied the game with a layup from Dane Dmitrovic and then took a 48-46 lead with a jumper from Dalane Finley.

In the final minute, Southwestern’s Sheldon Brown hit one-of-two from the line to give the Jinx a one-point advantage at 59-58.  Dalane Finley got the lead back when he scored with 29 seconds to play, but Justin Diggles drained a pair from the line to put the Jinx on top 61-60 with 24 seconds to play.

The Rams took the ball down the court looking for the final shot.  After a miss from Finley, Southwestern’s David King grabbed the rebound, but traveled to give Texas Wesleyan an opportunity under the basket with five seconds to play.  However, Southwestern forced a turnover on the inbound pass, and Diggles hit one-of-two at the line for the final margin of 62-60.

The Rams won the battle of the boards 40-36, but shot just 34% from the field.

Gober and Fred Eshon led the Rams with 13 points apiece.  Finley added 10 points for the Rams.  Southwestern was led by David King’s 13 points.

After the game, a disappointed Terry Waldrop said,  “If we expect to compete in our conference, we will have to play considerably better against better teams with more talent.”

The Rams will jump into conference play this weekend when they travel to Tyler, TX, to take on Texas College (8-7, 2-0 RRAC).  That game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.