FORT WORTH, TX:  The Texas Wesleyan men’s basketball team (2-1), ranked 15th in the nation, pushed 3rd ranked Oklahoma Christian Eagles (2-0) to the limit on Tuesday.  The Eagles escaped with a 74-66 win at the Sid Richardson Center.

It was a tale of two halves for the Rams.  In the first half, Texas Wesleyan shot 45% from the field and 55% from long range.  The Rams led by as many as nine points and went to the locker room with a 37-32 advantage on the strength of 13 points from Kharyi McKinney.

In the second half the Rams shot just 36% from the field and 8% from behind the arc.  The Eagles tied the game at 41 on a jumper from Dillon Ripley with 17:14 to play.  They took the lead at 43-41 when Brady Page got a lay-up on their next possession.

The Eagles pushed the lead to eight at 62-54 with just under nine minutes to play, but the Rams would not quit.  A pair of free throws from Scott Reasoner and a lay-up from Evan Patterson cut the deficit in half at 62-58.  After two free throws from OCU’s Keith Harris, Patterson and Nino Etienne both scored to cut the margin to just two points (64-62) with just over five minutes remaining.

After an Eagle bucket, Brady Page came up with a steal and found Drew Cross for a lay-up to secure the lead for OCU.  The Eagles hit their free throws down the stretch and did not give the Rams another opportunity.

McKinney finished with 17 points to lead the Rams.  Ben Hunt added 13 while Patterson and Reasoner each scored 11.  Patterson also brought down a game-high eight rebounds.  Brady Page led all scorers with 30 points for the Eagles.

“The difference in the game came down to two minutes in the second half when they executed and we did not,” said Head Coach Terry Waldrop.  “This team will get better, and we will make those plays next time.”

The schedule does not get any easier for the Rams.  They will see their next action on November 15, when they travel to Oklahoma City to take on #13 Oklahoma City University.  That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.