CANYON – The Angelo State men's basketball team swept its regular-season series over West Texas A&M and won for the first time in Canyon since 2009 after a 69-47 Lone Star Conference victory over the Buffs on Wednesday at the First United Bank Center.

Bryan Hammond led ASU (15-5, 5-3 LSC) with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Tommy Woolridge hit three 3-pointers and finished the game with 19 points. The Rams forced 20 turnovers from WT (9-11, 1-7 LSC) and scored 21 points off those takeaways. The defensive effort by the Rams limited the Buffs to a season-low in points and it matched a Nov. 23 shutdown of Western New Mexico which was also limited to 47 points against ASU.

"Any time you get a road win in a conference as tough as the Lone Star, it's a good win," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "Our defense in the second half was as good as it has been all year. Cinco Boone had a good scouting report and we made some good halftime adjustments. Give the credit to our players."

ASU senior Kenny Williams added 10 points and five rebounds in the road win, while freshman Chantz Chambers contributed six points in a reserve role. Thomas Brandsma provided six rebounds and four points with Omari Gudul adding four points and four rebounds for ASU. The Rams, who improved to 6-4 away from San Angelo, shot 45 percent from the field and went 11 of 17 from the free-throw line in addition to owning a 40-32 rebounding advantage.

"Last Saturday was a tough loss for us," Beard said. "That's basketball and that's life. You have tough days. Your character is revealed during adversity. Our players responded. I was hard on them this week. I am proud of them. We get back to work tomorrow."

The last win in Canyon by the Rams came in a 79-71 win on Jan. 28, 2009 in a season where ASU swept the season series against WT for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Tez Dumars led WT with 10 points and added five rebounds, while David Duncan had nine points and four rebounds. Drimir Ferguson, who came into the game leading the Buffs with 14.4 points per game, was held scoreless by the ASU defense.

ASU and WT battled through a close game throughout the first half (31-28 at halftime), but the Rams put the game away when Woolridge hit a 3-pointer to give ASU a 57-43 advantage and then a layup to expand the lead to 16 with 6:31 to play. A Daniel Skinner put back increased the Rams' lead to 61-43 to cap a 11-3 run by ASU in a three minute span. The Rams finished the game on a 6-0 run and held WT scoreless for the final 3:47 minutes of play in their largest conference win of the season.

The Rams built a 12-point lead when Hammond hit a layup to take the score to 48-36 with 13:19 remaining in the game. WT responded with a 4-0 run on a pair of layups before Williams hit a layup which was credited after a goaltending call against the Buffs. A close game swung ASU's way and never went back towards the home teams down the stretch.

Hammond's 20 points matched his season-high which he had last Saturday against Texas A&M-Kingsville and was five points off his career-high in a 25-point performance last season at Incarnate Word.

Angelo State took a 31-28 lead into halftime after forcing 13 turnovers and converting those into 10 points. The Rams shot 48 percent from the field, hit two 3-pointers and went 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. The Rams led 31-24 before the Buffs closed the halftime deficit to four with a 4-0 run to end the half, including a David Duncan layup with four seconds remaining.

The Rams had taken the seven-point lead when Woolridge hit his second 3-pointer of the half with 1:15 remaining. He hit his first 3-pointer just three minutes into the game to tie the score at five before WT went on a 6-2 run to take an 11-7 lead five minutes in. The Rams took their first lead of the game at 15-13 on a pair of Williams free throws. ASU went on a 7-0 run with baskets from Hammond and Woolridge and a layup and free throw from Chambers.

Hammond and Woolridge led the Rams with 10 points each in the first half, while Williams had six points and two rebounds. Hammond added three rebounds and two assists in the first 20 minutes of play.

"Our four guards (Hammond, Woolridge, Nash Nelson and Chambers) played well tonight as a group," Beard said. "It was a team effort."

UP NEXT: Angelo State returns to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday against Eastern New Mexico at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center. The Rams will look to avenge a 72-68 overtime loss to the Greyhounds on Jan. 18 in Portales, N.M.