SAN ANGELO – The No. 22-ranked Angelo State basketball team returns from a two-week break with a 7 p.m. non-conference game on Saturday against York College at the Junell Center.

The Rams (11-1) are riding a six-game winning streak into the contest which is the final tune-up before the team opens Lone Star Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 7 against No. 4 Tarleton State at the Junell Center. ASU is averaging 93.1 points per game and lead the nation with a 29.4 scoring margin after earning a 113-74 win over Arkansas-Monticello in its last game (Jan. 20). The team is shooting 55.6 percent from the field, averaging 21.9 assists per game (263 total) and is dominating its opponents defensively by limiting them to 38.2 percent shooting and taking away 130 possessions with steals (10.8 per game).

Angelo State, which has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 1,117-764, is 11-1 for the first time in program history and is off to the best 12-game start to a season in program history. The Rams are 8-0 at home this season and are 19-2 inside the Junell Center over the past two seasons under head coach Chris Beard and associate head coach Cinco Boone who are now 30-10 guiding the Ram basketball program. ASU returned to the national rankings at No. 22 this week in the NABC Coaches Top-25 Poll. It is the second time this season the Rams have been ranked after they were also ranked No. 22 three weeks ago before dropping out of the poll following their lone loss of the season at Colorado Mesa. The Rams have since gone on a six-game winning streak entering the 2015 portion of the season.

York College (8-6) is an NAIA program from York, Nebraska who will play at Tarleton State on Friday before travelling to San Angelo to take on the Rams. ASU earned a 96-85 win over the Panthers last season. Omari Gudul recorded his first double-double of his career in the game after scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the Nov. 17, 2013 game at the Junell Center. Gudul is averaging 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Rams this season after scoring 10 points and securing five rebounds against UAM.

Demario Mayfield leads the Rams this season with 16.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this season and has recorded six double-doubles and one triple-double. Mayfield scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against UAM and also had eight assists. He has recorded 21 assists in the last two games after going for a season-best 13 assists in his triple-double against Arlington Baptist where he also had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Jones leads the Rams and the conference with 63 assists and 35 steals this season. In the top-5 in those categories nationally, Jones is second on the team with 14.7 points per game and has scored 20 or more point in three games this season. He scored a season-high 23 points against Texas-Permian Basin and Western State Colorado. Jones has earned one LSC Offensive Player of the Week honor and one LSC Defensive Player of the Week this season, while Mayfield has earned one LSC Offensive Player of the Week.

Marsell Holden joined Mayfield and Jones with LSC recognition after earning the LSC Offensive Player of the Week honor last week following hitting 12 3-pointers in the two games before the break. The conference leader with 35 3-pointers this season, Holden hit a season-best seven 3-pointers against UAM after draining five 3-pointers against Arlington Baptist. He is shooting 43.2 percent from beyond the arc and is averaging 14.1 points per game for the Rams. Raijon Kelly, who has started all 12 games along with Holden and Mayfield, is averaging 10.2 points per game this season and has scored in double-figures in the past five games. Kelly is shooting 62.2 percent from the field this season and is second on the team with 51 assists. He is coming off an 11-point, three-assist game against UAM and scored a season-high 15 points in games against Arkansas Tech and UTPB.

Bilal Richardson is coming off his first double-double of the season after scoring 10 points and grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds against UAM, while Brentine Taylor scored 11 points and had five rebounds in the game. The pair of juniors from Georgia have provided the team strength inside along with Gudul throughout the season and are contributing points, rebounds and a defensive presence which is limiting the opposition to 63.7 points per game. Richardson is averaging 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while Taylor is at 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. A deep team, the Rams are also finding production from Thomas Brandsma (2.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.), Tommy Woolridge (4.3 ppg.) and DeQuavious Wagner (4.9 ppg.). Woolridge has hit nine 3-pointers this season.