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SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team returns to action at 5 p.m. on Sunday against Texas A&M-Commerce in a Lone Star Conference game at the Junell Center.
"A&M Commerce is a very good basketball team," ASU head coach
Chris Beard said. "Every year Sam (Coach Sam Walker) puts together a talented team that competes in the conference. This year is no different. Commerce has already won 12 games and they have several all-conference type players. They are the probably the deepest team in our league with seven players averaging over eight points a game. We will have to play very well to have a chance to compete on Sunday."
The Rams (10-3, 0-1 LSC) are 6-0 at home this season, while the Lions (12-2, 1-1 LSC) are 7-1 away from Commerce (3-1 road / 4-0 neutral). The game will be broadcasted on CSN Houston with a live stream available on
CSNHouston.com for viewers outside the Comcast markets.
"Our conference is too good and the competition is too tough to make your only focus winning and losing," Beard said. "We talk with our team every day about the process of trying to improve daily and focusing on each possession of every practice and game like it has a life of its on. The teams that stay the course without getting too high or too low are the ones that will be part of the fight in March. That is certainly our goal, to build a program here at ASU that can compete in every game every season."
Angelo State Ram Report
ASU enters the game following an 80-54 road loss to No. 9 Tarleton State on Wednesday where it led by as many as 13 in the first half but saw the Texans pull away in the second half. The Rams, which started the season at a program-best 10-0, are currently on a three-game losing streak after dropping road games to Arkansas Tech and Arkansas-Monticello before the holiday break. Â The 10-game winning streak to start the season also established a new winning streak program record at any point of a season and elevated the Rams to No. 22 in the national rankings before the two losses in Arkansas pushed them outside the polls.
ASU, which has trailed only four times at halftime this season, is averaging 75.8 points per game this season and is limiting its opponents to 69.8 points per game. The team is shooting 55 percent and is scoring 84 points per game at home this season. The Rams were held to a season-low 54 points against the Texans after being limited to 18 points in the second half. They are shooting 49 percent from the field and 33 percent (61 of 184) on 3-pointers this season. The team's field goal percentage ranks second in the LSC and 32nd in the nation, while its defense ranks second in the conference and 18th in the country.
As a team, the Rams are shooting 63 percent on free throws (221 of 346) and have a plus 3.4 rebounding advantage over their opponents per game. ASU is averaging 3.3 blocks and 7.1 steals per game defensively and 15.2 assists per game on the offensive side of the court.
Ram Rundown
Kenny Williams leads the Rams with 18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, along with 17 steals and 12 blocks. He ranks second in the LSC in scoring and rebounding. Williams, a 6-foot-7 senior from St. Louis, has recorded six double-doubles this season and has also contributed 24 assists in his first season at Angelo State. He's averaging 19.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game inside the Junell Center. He was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 3 after opening the season with 28 points and 10 rebounds in the first game of the year against East Central. He was also named the LSC Defensive Player of the Year on Dec. 7, becoming the first player in the conference to earn an offensive and defensive weekly award this season. His conference-leading six double-doubles have come against ECU (28 points/10 rebounds), York College (27/11), Western New Mexico (12/10), McMurry (16/12), Arkansas-Fort Smith (22/13) and Tarleton (25/10). He has led the team in scoring in seven games and in rebounding nine times.
Daniel Skinner is second on the team with 10.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and is tied with Williams with 12 blocked shots. Skinner has recorded one double-double this season with a 17 points, 10 rebound game against York College. A junior guard from Lancaster, he transferred to ASU this season from Jacksonville College where he earned junior college All-America honors. He has scored in double-figures eight times this season with a season-high 16 points coming against Arkansas-Monticello.
Bryan Hammond, a senior guard from New Orleans, is averaging 9.3 points per game and is leading the Rams with 57 assists this season. He has led ASU in assists in nine of the first 13 games. A transfer from Nichols State, Hammond is in his second season at ASU and is shooting 47 percent from the field (42 of 89). He averaged 9.6 points and had 78 assists last season as a junior. He has scored in double-figures five times this season with a season-high 19 points against York College and Western New Mexico. His season-high in assists is eight coming against McMurry.
Tommy Woolridge was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 19 points in the Rams' 75-70 exhibition win over UTEP last Saturday. Woolridge has scored in double-figures five times this season with his season-high coming in a 19-point effort performance against Arkansas Tech. A Chicago native, he transferred into ASU after playing last season at North Dakota State College of Science before playing his freshman season at Tyler Junior College. He has started five games and has contributed 21 assists and 13 steals in his junior season for the Rams.
Chris Talkington is averaging 11.8 points in the last six games and is at 6.3 points per game this season. A senior, Talkington is in his second season at ASU after transferring from Nichols State along with Hammond. He leads the Rams with 16 3-pointers this season (44 percent) and had a season-high eight rebounds on Wednesday against Tarleton State.
Omari Gudul has started 11 of 13 games this season and is averaging 4.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. The tallest Ram on the roster at 6-foot-10, Gudul played at Ranger College last season as a freshman before transferring to ASU. Originally from the Congo, he has one double-double this season with a 17/10 performance against York College.
Chantz Chambers, a freshman from Shreveport, is averaging 5.7 points per game as a reserve this season. He scored a season-high 13 points against Northern New Mexico and also scored 12 points against Oklahoma Wesleyan.
A deep roster, ASU has also received contributions off the bench from
Reggie Sutton (4.8 points, 2.3 rebounds),
Thomas Brandsma (3.2 points, 2.6 rebounds),
Zach Jones (1.9 points) and
Ryan Marsh (2.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and eight blocks).
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Texas A&M-Commerce Lions Report
A&M-Commerce comes into San Angelo after earning a 68-66 win at home over Texas A&M-Kingsville to even its conference record at 1-1. Despite the win, the 68 points were a season-low for the Lions who are averaging 85.1 points per game this season. The Lions, which started the season with eight straight non-conference wins, opened LSC play last Saturday with an 84-73 loss at home to Midwestern State at The Field House and their only other loss this season came in a 75-73 defeat to Northwood on Dec. 3.
LaDon Carnegie, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, leads the Lions with 15 points per game and is also contributing 6.1 rebounds per game. His scoring average ranks seventh in the conference. A Grand Rapids, Mich., native, Carnegie also has 19 assists and 16 steals this season in 12 games played. He is shooting 49 percent from the field (58 of 117) and has made 15 of his 32 attempts from beyond the arc.
Tyrie Wooten is adding 12.7 points per game and 35 assists and 14 steals in his senior season, while Devondrick Walker (11.7)Â and Kameron Price (10.6) round out the four Lions in double-figure scoring. Walker, a senior guard from Garland, has made 27 of 28 free throws this season (96 percent), while Price (Sr., Fort Worth) leads the team with 25 steals. Christian MacCauley, a 6-foot-9 junior from Washington, D.C. leads the Lions with 8.1 rebounds per game (71 def., 42 off) and is also scoring 9.3 points per game. Kenny Brown has provided steady play with 8.2 points and 6.4 rebounds as a reserve this season, while De'Andre Carson (Fr., Kyle) leads the team with 38 assists to go along with his 7.8 points per game.
The Lions have won four of their last five games and enter Sunday's contest scoring 85.1 points per game which ranks second in the LSC behind Tarleton State's 90.4 points per game. A&M-Commerce is first in the conference with 42.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 43 percent from the field this season. As a team, they are shooting 36 percent on 3-pointers (109 of 303) and 72 percent (280 of 384) from the free-throw line.
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A Little Historical Perspective
Texas A&M-Commerce leads the all-time series 43-41 over the Rams and have won the previous three meetings. The two teams played a high-scoring affair in the last game with the Lions taking a 96-90 win in San Angelo on Feb. 9, 2013. Angelo State's last win over the Lions came in an 87-67 victory on Jan. 14, 2012 at the Junell Center.
Angelo State won the first ever meeting between the two teams, 82-72, on Jan. 10, 1970 in a game played in Commerce.
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MEDIA COVERAGE: Jeremy Bryant will call the game locally on 1260AM KKSA with a simulcast being available on AngeloSports.com. In-game updates will be provided at
www.twitter.com/AngeloSports.
UP NEXT: Angelo State will return to action against West Texas A&M at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at the Junell Center. The Rams will look to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Buffs in the game.
