SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team opens Lone Star Conference action at 7:30 p.m. (MT) on Wednesday at Eastern New Mexico.

The Rams (2-2) are coming off two close losses last weekend at the St. Mary's Invitational against Minnesota-Duluth and St. Mary's. ASU and ENMU (3-3) split their series last year with both teams defending their home court.

“I think we our shooting is the strength of our team even though our percentage is low,” ASU head coach Fred Rike said. “We are a jump shooting team and can knock down shots. Our guard speed is excellent and we have a great overall basketball IQ. I think our guys are smart players and once we get our system in I think we'll be pretty hard to beat come January and February.”

Chris Talkington leads the Rams with 18.3 points per game through his first three games of the season and Antonio Dye is averaging 11.5 points per game. Talkington's average puts him at third in the conference in scoring and he is also third in the conference in rebounding with 8 rebounds per game.

Talkington leads the LSC with 6.7 defensive rebounds per game and Ryan Marsh leads the conference with two blocked shots per game. Jovan Austin is adding 11 points a game, while Dakota Rawls is averaging 9.5. Bryan Hammond and Dye each lead the team with 13 and 12 assists, respectively, with Hammond also leading the team with five steals.

Angelo State is currently second in the conference in scoring at 77.5 points per game and leads with a 69 percent shooting percentage from the free-throw line. ASU is shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc and has made 27 three-pointers in the first four games of the season. The Rams, despite not possessing the most height in the conference, leads the LSC with 15.5 offensive rebounds per game and are also bringing down 22.8 defensive boards and 7.5 steals per game.

“The book hasn't been written on us and I'm sure there will be some surprises for other teams early on,” Rike said.

Eastern New Mexico comes into the game with a 3-3 record, including wins over Lubbock Christian, Colorado State-Pueblo and Missouri Southern. The Greyhounds also have a loss to Lubbock Christian and two defeats to Texas A&M International. ENMU is scoring 77 points per game and are shooting 48 percent from the field and 41 percent on 3-pointers.