SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team will open its Lone Star Conference Championship stay with a quarterfinal game against Cameron at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Allen Events Center.
Â
ASU (18-8, 8-6 LSC) enters the postseason on a two-game winning streak and took both games from the Aggies (11-14, 5-9 LSC) in the regular season. The Rams are making their first postseason appearance since the 2010 tournament and are the third seed in the tournament. It is the highest seed they've earned since the 2009 tournament when they were second. In other action, No. 2 Midwestern State goes up against No. 7 Texas A&M-Kingsville at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, No. 1 Tarleton State takes on No. 8 West Texas A&M at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and No. 4 Texas A&M-Commerce faces No. 5 Eastern New Mexico at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Â
The ASU-CU winner will face the MSU-A&M-Kingsville winner at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the first semifinal game on the men's side of the tournament. The championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday with the winner earning the LSC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament. Teams not earning the automatic qualifier will learn their fate at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday during a selection show.Â
Â
ASU TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Rams will be making their 27th tournament appearance and first in three seasons. ASU has won three LSC tournament titles, reached the finals of the tournament six times and have a 15-23 all-time tournament record. The program won the LSC tournament title in 1989, 1988 and 1984. ASU's last tournament win came in the 2001 tournament when they won 104-90 over Midwestern State in the semifinals after an 80-75 win over East Central in the quarterfinals hosted in San Angelo. The Rams fell 75-73 to West Texas A&M in the championship game. The last tournament win away from San Angelo came in a 65-53 quarterfinal win over Texas A&M-Kingsville in the 1994 tournament in Canyon.
Â
ANGELO STATE QUOTES
Chris Beard //Â Angelo State head coach
On opening the tournament against Cameron:
"Cameron is a well-coached talented team. We have a lot or respect for their program. In my opinion, Craig Foster and Will Cook are two of the best players in our conference. We will have to play well on both ends of the court to have a chance to win on Thursday."
Â
On the Rams competing for the Lone Star Conference Championship:
"Our team is excited to be playing in the postseason. It has been a few years since ASU has played in the month of March. We are looking forward to the challenge and opportunity."
Â
On Angelo State's mentality entering the Lone Star Conference Championship:
"All teams play hard in post-season tournaments. The teams that play smart and execute are the ones who have the best chance of winning. Our focus is to have another productive week of practice and to try and play our best game of the season on Thursday."
Â
Kenny Williams // Angelo State senior
On Angelo State's mentality entering the Lone Star Conference Championship:
"We are going in with a must-win mentality. All 15 of us have the same mentality with a laser focus and ready to take care of business. It's hard to beat a team three times in a season, but we're preparing and will be ready to play."
Â
Chris Talkington // Angelo State senior
On Angelo State's mentality entering the Lone Star Conference Championship:
"March is a special time of the year, but we have to approach it the same way we have every game this season. There has to be strong mental focus on it."
Â
On opening the tournament against Cameron:
"They're a good team with two players who deserve to be all-conference for what they've accomplished this season. They're going watch the film and see what they can do differently against us and they'll be ready. We have to come out ready to play."
Â
Nash Nelson // Angelo State sophomore
On Angelo State's mentality entering the Lone Star Conference Championship:
"All college basketball players live for March. This is when the good teams and players rise to the top. Our goal is real simple and it's to win every single game that we play. Our goal is to go there and win three games."
Â
Ryan Marsh // Angelo State senior
On opening the tournament against Cameron:
"We've beat them two times this season, but it's not going to be an easy game. They're a really talented team and it's hard to beat a team three times in a season. We just have to play hard and go out there and get a win to advance."
Â
Bryan Hammond // Angelo State senior
On opening the tournament against Cameron:
"We really just need to go play our game against Cameron. I feel that if we can stick to our principals then we'll be in a position to win the game. They have some of the best talent in the conference and it will be important to stick to our game plan."
Â
ASU, Cameron Round 1: The Rams went into Aggie Gym on Jan. 25 and secured an 88-75 LSC win by hitting nine 3-pointers and staking themselves out to a 44-30 halftime lead.
Tommy Woolridge recorded a season-high 32 points after going 6-for-6 on 3-pointers, while
Chris Talkington added 20 points by knocking down three 3-pointers.
Kenny Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Rams, while
Bryan Hammond had eight assists. Craig Foster and Will Cook led the Aggies with Foster scoring 22 points and Cook going for 20. The Rams shot 60.4 percent from the field in the game and 56.3 percent on 3-pointers (9 of 16).
Â
ASU, Cameron Round 2: The Rams closed out their home schedule and celebrated Senior Night with a 70-59 win over the Aggies at the Junell Center on Feb. 22.
Bryan Hammond led ASU with 21 points and added five rebounds and three assists.
Kenny Williams added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season and
Omari Gudul contributed seven points and five rebounds. ASU shot 43.8 percent from the field and hit six 3-pointers in the game, while the team added 22 points from the free-throw line. Will Cook led the Aggies with 29 points and six rebounds. CU was limited to 33.3 percent shooting, including going 6-for-21 on 3-pointers.
Â
ANGELO STATE RAM REPORT (18-8, 8-6 LSC)
ASU enters the postseason averaging 73.5 points per game and limiting opponents to 69.1 points per game. The Rams ranked second in the LSC throughout the regular season by shooting 47.1 percent from the field and holding the opposition to 40.5 percent shooting.
Â
The Rams, who were No. 8 in last week's NCAA DII South Central rankings, come into the LSC tournament having won its last two games with victories over Texas A&M-Kingsville and Cameron and are 2-0 this season in neutral-court games (71-69 over Arkansas-Fort Smith, 72-62 over East Central). ASU is shooting 66.0 percent from the free-throw line (456 of 691) and 34.2 percent on 3-pointers (123 of 360). The Rams experienced a resurgence this season after going 7-19 last season. The list of accomplishments include starting the season 10-0 for the first time in program history and establishing the longest winning streak at any point of a season at 10 before falling at Arkansas Tech. The Rams were ranked No. 22 in the nation after the 10-0 start to the season which was the first time ASU has been ranked since 2009.
Â
RAM RUNDOWN
Bryan Hammond enters the postseason averaging 12.0 points per game this season and scoring 20 or more points in four of the past eight games. Hammond, a senior from New Orleans, is coming off 16 points against Texas A&M-Kingsville in the regular-season finale and a 21-point game against Cameron in the final game at the Junell Center. He leads the Rams with 118 assists which ranked third in the LSC and was fourth in the LSC with 4.5 assists per game this season. He is shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 73.7 percent from the free-throw line (87 of 117). He established a career high with nine assists two weeks ago against Texas A&M-Commerce and has recorded five or more assists in 12 games this season. Hammond and
Kenny Williams have both started all 26 games for the Rams this season.
Â
Kenny Williams has established himself as one of the most complete players in the Lone Star Conference this season, leading the league with 17.3 points per game and ranking second with 8.2 rebounds per game. He was named to the LSC first-team and earned LSC Newcomer of the Year on Tuesday at the awards banquet in Allen. Williams, a senior from St. Louis, leads the LSC with 10 double-doubles after going for 13 points and 12 rebounds two weeks against Cameron. He has led the Rams in scoring 15 times this season and has grabbed the most rebounds in 18 contests. He has also scored in double digits in 25 of 26 games this season and has secured five or more rebounds in 22 games. His 21 blocked shots leads ASU and he is shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line (99 of 132). He recorded a season-high 28 points against East Central in the first game of the season and had his double-doubles against ECU (28/10), York (27/11), Western New Mexico (12/10), McMurry (16/12), Arkansas-Fort Smith (22/13), Tarleton (25/10), ENMU (23/15), ENMU (22/10), Tarleton (14/12) and Cameron (13/12). Williams has earned one LSC Offensive Player of the Week honor this season and two LSC Defensive Player of the Week awards. He is in his first season at ASU after transferring from McMurry.
Â
The Rams are getting most of their points from deep-range from
Chris Talkington and
Tommy Woolridge this season. Talkington, a senior from Grand Prairie, is averaging 7.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. A transfer from Nicholls State along with Hammond, Talkington has made 28 3-pointers this season and is shooting 41.8 percent from beyond the arc. He scored a season-high 20 points at Cameron earlier this season by hitting three 3-pointers and going 8-for-8 from the field. Woolridge leads the team with 37 3-pointers this season and is averaging 9.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Woolridge scored a season-high 32 points at Cameron when he went 6-for-6 on 3-pointers. His 32 points are the most by any Ram throughout the season. He is shooting 40.2 percent on his 3-point attempts and has also contributed 28 assists. Also a junior in his first season at ASU along with Woolridge,
Daniel Skinner is averaging 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Skinner, a Dallas native and Jacksonville College transfer, has scored in double digits eight times this season and recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds against York College. He scored a conference-high seven points and had five rebounds last week at Midwestern State.
Â
ASU continues to get contribution for underclassmen who are providing help and gaining experience this season. Sophomores
Omari Gudul,
Thomas Brandsma,
Reggie Sutton and
Nash Nelson have each contributed and freshman
Chantz Chambers has provided energy and production. Gudul has started 21 games this season at the forward position and is averaging 4.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. A native of the Congo, Gudul played his freshman season at Ranger College before transferring to ASU. He is coming off a six-rebound performance in Kingsville. He has recorded two double-doubles this season with a 13 point, 12-rebound performance against York College in non-conference play and went for 14 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern New Mexico three weeks ago at the Junell Center. Sutton has made five starts and is averaging 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. A San Angelo native, Sutton scored a season-high 12 points against West Texas A&M at home and is coming off a 10 point, seven-rebound performance against the Javelinas. Sutton has five double-digit games this season. Brandsma scored his season-high with 11 points against Commerce and is averaging 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. A Colleyville native, he played high school basketball with Nelson. A reserve the first 22 games of the season, Nelson has started the past four games and played a season-high 28 minutes last Saturday against Cameron. Nelson began his collegiate career at Harding last season before transferring to ASU. He has contributed 26 assists this season.
Â
Chambers is averaging 4.8 points and has provided 22 assists and 11 steals in his freshman season. Chambers, a Shreveport native and long jumper on the ASU Track & Field team, has scored in double digits in four games this season. He scored a season-high 13 points against Northern New Mexico and a conference-high 12 points against Midwestern State at home. Along with youth providing contributions, seniors
Ryan Marsh,
Ice Asortse and
Zach Jones have added depth. Marsh is second on the team with 17 blocked shots, while Asortse has 1.1 points per game and Jones is averaging 1.2 points per game.
Â
Chris Beard Information
Angelo State is coached by
Chris Beard who is in his first season at the school. Beard coached at McMurry last season, leading the War Hawks to a 19-10 record before being named ASU's fifth head coach in program history on March 22, 2013. Prior to McMurry, Beard was the head coach of the South Carolina Warriors of the American Basketball Association. He led the team to a 31-2 record, a Mid Atlantic Division Championship and an appearance in the ABA Finals. Beard was a part of the Texas Tech staff from 2001-2011 as an assistant coach under Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight and was promoted to associate head coach in 2008 under Pat Knight. Tech won 188 games and advanced to the postseason six times including four trips to the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the NIT Postseason Final Four. While Beard was at Tech, the Red Raiders had 11 student-athletes named all-conference and had 32 of its 34 student-athletes graduate with degrees. He was also the head coach at Seminole State College and Fort Scott Community College and served as a graduate assistant at Incarnate Word after earning his bachelor's from the University of Texas.
.
Â
CAMERON AGGIE REPORT (11-14, 5-9 LSC)
The Aggies dropped their final two games of the regular season with their loss in San Angelo before falling 74-71 in the final regular-season game of the year. The two-game streak came after winning two games against West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
CU is 4-8 away from Lawton this season and is averaging 68.7 points per game and is shooting 43.8 percent from the field. The Aggies have made 144 3-pointers this season (33.0 percent) and have a plus 1.0 rebounding advantage per game over its opponents.
The Aggies are led by senior guards Will Cook and Craig Foster this season. Foster, who was selected as the LSC Preseason Player of the Year and is a reigning All-American, is averaging 15.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and is leading the team with 116 assists and 40 steals. A hometown player, Foster went to Lawton High and was an NABC All-American and the LSC Player of the Year last season after averaging 16.6 points per game and dishing out 153 assists.
Cook is in his first season at Cameron after transferring in from Samford University. A 6-foot-5 shooting guard, Cook leads the Ags with 16.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He has also contributed 34 assists, 10 blocked shots and 14 steals. Desmond Henry is third on the team with 7.7 points per game and is averaging 3.1 rebounds. Tank Mayberry, the tallest and biggest Aggie on the roster, stands at 6-foot-10 and weigh 300 pounds. Mayberry is a Corpus Christi native who started his career at Navarro College and UTSA before heading north to Oklahoma. He is averaging 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for the Ags this season. Aaron Thompson is adding 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.