Texas Wesleyan men advance to NAIA Final Four

Senior point guard Dion Rogers scored a game-high 22 points to lead five Texas Wesleyan players in double figures in an 82-73 victory over Dalton (Ga.) State College in a quarterfinal game of the NAIA Div. I men’s basketball tournament Saturday night in Kansas City.

The victory sends the Rams (27-7) into the tournament’s Final Four.

Texas Wesleyan will play in Monday 8 p.m. semifinal against William Penn (33-3) of Iowa, which defeated Langston (Okla.) College 84-80 in another quarterfinal match Saturday.

The other semifinal pairing, at 6 p.m. Monday, has unbeaten LSU Alexandria (34-0) against Life University (25-10) out of Marietta, Ga.

Texas Wesleyan scored first and was able to keep Dalton at arm’s length, closing the first half on a 10-2 charge to establish a 41-35 advantage. TWU led by as many as 12 points during the game but trailed only twice, for a combined 30 seconds.

The Rams finished the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field, including 5-of-17 from 3-point range.

In addition to Rogers’ 22 points, Ryan Harris and Najeal Young each had 19 while Naiel Smith and Trevon Jeffery scored 10 apiece. Smith added eight assists while Young led the team with nine rebounds.

Texas Wesleyan’s men won the men’s NAIA basketball championship in 2006.

This story was originally published March 18, 2017 at 11:16 PM with the headline "Texas Wesleyan men advance to NAIA Final Four."