PORTALES, N.M. – The Angelo State men's basketball team finished the first half on a 17-4 run against Eastern New Mexico, but were unable to continue that momentum as the Rams opened Lone Star Conference play with a 76-67 loss to the Greyhounds on Wednesday after being outscored 46-38 in the second half at the Greyhound Arena.

Jovan Austin scored a career-high 20 points for the Rams after hitting six shots from the field and going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Austin has scored in double figures the last three games and added four assists against the Greyhounds (4-3, 1-0 LSC). Antonio Dye added 16 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Chris Talkington scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with a 12-point effort and Dakota Rawls had 11 rebounds and nine points.

The Rams (2-3, 0-1 LSC) were down 24-9 at the 10-minute mark of the first half which was the biggest deficit of the night, but were able to go into halftime trailing 30-29. ASU's only lead of the game came on a Dye 3-pointer that gave the Rams a 35-34 advantage with 17 minutes remaining in the second half. ENMU would respond 25 seconds later with a basket and wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

ASU finished the game shooting 37.7 percent from the floor with ENMU shooting 52.8 percent. ASU made seven second-half 3-pointers after making only one in the first half, while the Greyhounds went 7-for-14 on three-point shots.  

“The first 10 minutes of the game were disastrous for us,” ASU head coach Fred Rike said. “I thought they got some easy buckets in transition and we have to get back. We are struggling offensively and you're not going to beat too many people in the LSC when you shoot under 40 percent.”

Bryan Hammond scored five points and had two assists for the Rams, while Zach Jones had four rebounds and three points.

Austin led the team in scoring at the half with 13 points, while Rawls had six and Dye and Talkington with four each. Austin shot 50 percent from the field (4-for-8) in the opening 20 minutes and also went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. The Rams struggled throughout the early part of the first half and finished the half at 39.3 percent shooting and were 1-for-5 from beyond the arch.
ASU's bench outscored ENMU's bench 23-5 in the game but were outscored 34-24 in the paint. Kyle Lantz led the Greyhounds with 18 points and Rafael Love added 17.

The Rams return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday against West Texas A&M at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center.