Final Stats (.pdf)
PORTALES, N.M. – LaDonn Huckaby drilled his fifth three-pointer of the game with 2.8 seconds left to cap a career-high performance and lift Angelo State to a 70-68 win late Wednesday night, but there was no celebration in the locker room after the game as the team lost active points and rebounds leader
Ridge McKeither to a serious injury in the second half.
Angelo State (7-10, 3-2 LSC South) guard Steve Moore fought through a trap, leaped in the air and found an open Huckaby, who finished 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc for a career-best 17 total points. Huckaby's shooting effort was part of a 53.2 percent effort from the field for the Rams – the team's second-best mark of the season, and helped the team rally from down 10 in the second half.
Richard Thomas led all scorers with 28 points and led the Rams with 11 rebounds. Moore added 12 points for ASU and dished out four assists.
The win was marred by the loss of McKeither, who led the Rams on a 9-0 run to pull within a single point at 51-50, nearly a minute before a shoulder injury and a severe leg injury forced a stoppage of more than 15 minutes while the senior was tended to and carted off on a stretcher with 10:11 remaining in the contest.
“Our locker room wasn't really celebrating,” Angelo State head coach Fred Rike said of the win. “Our guys are happy we won, but that was a tough injury for Ridge. We don't know the extent but it's a tough deal for a good guy, a good teammate and a great player. It's tough to lose him. We're hoping and praying for the best.”
The Rams jumped out to a seven-point lead in the first half before finding themselves trailing Eastern New Mexico (7-10, 2-3 LSC South) by seven at the half. The Greyhounds scored 17 of their 41 first-half points off seven ASU turnovers and were led by Stefan Mirabal's 13 points before the break.
ENMU led by as many as 12 points in the first half and pushed the lead to double digits again early in the second half following a lay-up by Tyler Jefferson and a free throw from Mirabal made it 51-41 with 14:42 to play. ASU's Thomas scored the game's next seven points to start a 10-0 run, which including a lay-up by McKeither and a free throw by Steve Moore to tie the contest at 51-51.
Eastern New Mexico pushed the lead back to five without McKeither in the game, but Huckaby hit the first of three three-pointers from the Rams in the final four minutes and Moore hit a pair of free throws to give ASU its first lead since the midpoint of the first half at 64-63 with 2:12 to go in the game.
A bucket by Gerald Brown put the Greyhounds back in the lead but Moore answered with a triple to make it a 67-65 ASU lead with 45 seconds to play. Mirabal wouldn't let ENMU go quietly, as he made good on the second of two three-point attempts during the next possession for the last of his team-best 21 points. That set up the final series for the Rams, who got a needed lift from Huckaby and saw a last second half-court attempt by the Greyhounds fall short.
Three other Eastern New Mexico players joined Mirabal in double figures, including Jefferson (14), Max Carrier (11) and Tralyn Harden (11). Brown dished out a game-high 11 assists, and Jefferson led all players with 13 rebounds.
Angelo State returns home to face Incarnate Word Saturday. The ASU women will tip off at 5:30 p.m., with the men's game slated to start after. Angelo State will honor its 2010 NCAA Division II Women's Outdoor Track and Field National Championship team with a ceremony at halftime of the Rams game.
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