The Angelo State men's basketball team (1-0) opened up the 2008-09 season with an 88-74 win over Texas A&M International at the Texan Tip-Off Classic Friday night in Stephenville.

Five Rams ended the night in double figures led by Ryan Bennett, playing his first game in an ASU uniform, with a game-high 23 points on a 7-of-11 shooting night, 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Lionel Brown was 6-of-11 from the floor, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 1-of-2 from the line, for 16 points. Nathan Walton had 13 points, eight of which came on a perfect night for the senior at the charity stripe, while Shavar Burch and Derrick Webster rounded out the double-digit scorers for ASU with 11 points each.

Malik Motnii and Chase Weishuhn rounded out ASU's scoring with seven points each as the Rams shot 48.8 percent from the field (25-52) and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line.

The DustDevils (2-2) were led by Derek Barnes who had 17 points on a 5-of-13 shooting night including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Joe Reed and Spencer Foreman had 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double-digit scorers for TAMIU.

The Rams took control of the game early in the first half. After scoring the first seven points, ASU saw Texas A&M International go on a 7-0 run to tie the score at 7-7 and re-tie the score at 10-10. The Rams, who never trailed in the game, took a 14-12 lead on a jumper by Weishuhn with 12:52 remaining in the first half and were off to the races. Weishuhn's jumper began a 22-8 run and saw ASU open up a 16-point lead, 36-20, with 5:42 left. The DustDevils would battle back with 13-7 run to close out the half and reduce the Rams' lead to 43-33 at the break.

ASU would quickly build its lead back to 16 when it started the second half with a 10-4 run over the first 3:30 of the stanza. The Rams were just getting warmed up as they put the game away over the next 10 minutes, outscoring TAMIU 26-16 over that time span for a 26-point advantage, 79-53, with 6:53 remaining.

Texas A&M International would not die without a fight as it went on a 19-2 run, mainly on the strength of 10 consecutive points by Barnes, to make the score 81-72 with 1:25 remaining. But ASU would make seven of eight free throws down the stretch to keep the DustDevils at bay and secure the victory.

The Rams will remain in Stephenville for its next contest when it meets Texas-Permian Basin in the first of three meetings between the two schools. ASU and the Falcons tip-off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and you can hear all the action on KKSA-1260 AM or on the internet on Angelo All-Access at AngeloSports.com