BOX SCORE: Angelo State 64, Cameron 59

ALLEN – Not only is the Angelo State men's basketball team a part of this fight, now it is in the process of knocking teams out.

The Rams advanced in the Lone Star Conference Basketball Championships for the first time since the 2001 season with a 64-59 quarterfinal win over Cameron on Thursday at the Allen Events Center. Bryan Hammond led the Rams with 22 points, six assists and seven rebounds, while Kenny Williams went for 21 points and nine rebounds.

"We came here with one goal in mind and that was to win three games and a championship," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "We are one-third of the way there. We respect everybody in this league and understand that anyone can beat us. We've also proven over the course of the season that we can also beat anyone in this tournament. Our focus is to win two more games and take a championship back to San Angelo. Our goal this year was to be a part of the fight, and I think if you ask anyone in the conference we are part of the fight."

ASU (19-8) will take on Midwestern State at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals. The two teams split a pair of regular season games with the Rams taking an 83-68 win at the Junell Center before the Mustangs won 78-68 in Wichita Falls. To reach the semifinals, the Rams knocked off Cameron (11-15) for the third time this season after limiting the Aggies to 33.9 percent shooting from the field and to 1-for-18 on 3-pointers.

"For us to beat a team as good as them three times this season is a real accomplishment," Beard said. "I thought the game started out like a lot of tournament games do with a lot of nerves. Neither team could quite get in a rhythm early, but I was really proud of our guys. We set a goal to have 10 turnovers or less and we accomplished that. We also tried to shoot over 50 percent in the second half and we did that. I think those are two reasons we won the game."

ASU finished the game shooting 36.5 percent after it shot 50.0 percent in the second half on 20 shots. The Rams limited their turnovers to 10 and went 22-for-35 from the free-throw line. Chris Talkington, who finished the game with eight points, hit a 3-pointer to take the score to 54-49 with 3:36 remaining after the Aggies had made a run to cut their deficit to two after they had trailed 24-15 at halftime.

"Chris is known as a 3-point shooter in the conference," Hammond said. "A lot of teams key in on that, so for him to knock it down with pressure was real big."

The Aggies would trail 54-51 after CU's Henry Desmond hit a layup, but Talkington responded with a layup and Tommy Woolridge hit two free throws. The Rams were on a 6-0 run when Williams hit a pair of free throws to take the score to 60-51 with 45 seconds to play. Woolridge finished the game with nine points in a reserve role.

ASU's defense continued to be stifling, limiting the Aggies to 15 points in the first half. The 15 points were the fewest points scored in a half this season against the Rams who limited Texas A&M-Kingsville to 16 points in the first half last Saturday. The Rams held Craig Foster to seven points on 3-for-15 shooting and limited Will Cook to eight points the game after both players came into it averaging over 15 points per game.

"We pride ourselves on being one of the best defensive teams in our conference and in the region and country," Beard said. "It's the first thing we tell recruits is how much pride we take in our defense. I thought we did a good job defending. Cameron didn't make some of its shots, but I give our guys credit to contest the shots. There's no doubt our defense was a big reason we won."

Williams led the Rams with 13 points and had four rebounds, while Hammond finished the first half with nine points after scoring the first five points of the game. Hammond also had four first-half assists and three rebounds. Gudul led ASU with five rebounds and had two points at halftime and finished the game with eight rebounds.

ASU finished the first half shooting 28.1 percent from the field on 32 shots and went 3-for-9 (33.3 percent) on 3-pointers. Williams was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc and Hammond 1-for-2. Cameron was limited to 15.4 percent shooting (4 of 26) and went 0-for-9 on 3-pointers. Tank Mayberry led the Aggies with six points as the CU bench scored 11 of its 15 first-half points. Cook added four points and Foster had eight rebounds, but struggled shooting going 0-for-7 from the field. Desmond Henry led CU with 15 points and had eight rebounds, while Mayberry finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Rams improved to 16-23 all-time in LSC tournament play. ASU's last victories in the tournament came in 2001 when the Rams beat East Central (80-75) in the quarterfinals and Midwestern State 104-90 in the semifinals.


ADDITIONAL QUOTES

Chris Beard
On Bryan Hammond's performance against Cameron on Thursday and his effort throughout the season:
 "I have a lot of respect for all the players who got all-conference, but for Bryan Hammond not to get it I think was a mistake. The guys who did get it were deserving, but I've been doing this a long time and I've never had a guard who does more for his team than Bryan Hammond."
On playing against Midwestern State on Friday in the semifinals:
"They are one of the best teams in the conference and are a national championship contender," Beard said. "Not only are they a talented team with a great coach and tradition, but they're hot right now. Our goal this year was to be a part of the fight, and I think if you ask anyone in the conference we are part of the fight."