BOX SCORE: No. 9 Tarleton State 80, Angelo State 54

STEPHENVILLE – The Angelo State men's basketball team opened Lone Star Conference play with an 80-54 loss against No. 9 Tarleton State on Wednesday at Wisdom Gymnasium.

The Rams (10-3, 0-1 LSC) led by as many as 13 in the first half, but saw the Texans (12-0, 1-0 LSC) chip away with free throws in the first half and pull away in the second half by limiting ASU to 25.9 percent shooting while they shot 42.9 percent (15 for 35). TSU went 19 of 28 from the free-throw line in the game, while the Rams went 14 of 20 in the conference opener for both teams.

Kenny Williams recorded his sixth double-double of the season for the Rams, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the Texans. Williams also had two assists and went 8 of 10 from the free-throw line. Chris Talkington added nine points and eight rebounds, while Bryan Hammond scored five points and contributed two assists and four rebounds.

Tarleton State led 38-36 at halftime and started the second half on an 11-3 run to begin the second half. The Rams' deficit grew to 59-44 on a Tashawn Mabry with 12:07 remaining. Williams would cut the lead to 12 on a layup with 7:58 remaining, but the Texans pulled away to hand the Rams their third straight loss.

Williams led the Rams at halftime with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Tommy Woolridge and Bryan Hammond each had five. Woolridge was called for two technical fouls – the second as the team's exited the court for halftime – and would not return. Omari Gudul had four points and four rebounds with Talkington adding three points and two rebounds.

The Rams led by as many as 13 in the first half when Hammond drilled a 3-pointer to give ASU a 26-13 lead with 8:37 remaining in the half. The lead would be trimmed to 11 on a pair of Chuck Guy free throws for the Texans and to six when Mohammed Lee hit a 3-pointer to take the score to 28-22 with 5:32 remaining. TSU continued chipping at ASU's lead with free throws, hitting six straight free throws to take the score to 30-28. Zach Jones would hit a pair of free throws for the Rams for a 34-31 lead with 2:57 left before halftime, but the Texans went on a 7-2 run to end the half with the assistance of two more free throws and a tip-in by Damion Clemens with nine seconds left on the clock.

Chuck Guy led Tarleton State with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Mabry finished with 13 points and four rebounds. Guy went 12 of 13 on free throws and had seven assists. The Texans went 7 of 25 on 3-pointers in the game with Mabry hitting three of them. Angelo State was limited to shooting 4 of 16 on 3-pointers (25 percent).

Angelo State shot 36.7 percent in the first half and went 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. Tarleton State shot 42.9 percent from
the field and went 12 of 18 on its free throws. Guy led TSU with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half. 

UP NEXT: Angelo State will return to action at 5 p.m. on Sunday against Texas A&M-Commerce in its first LSC game at the Junell Center this season. The game will be carried locally on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant and will also be telecast on Comcast-Houston. The Lions (12-2) improved to 1-1 in LSC play with a 71-68 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday.