WICHITA FALLS – Demario Mayfield recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds to help lead the No. 11/8 Angelo State Rams to a 72-55 Lone Star Conference win over No. 23/20 Midwestern State on Wednesday at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
The Rams (16-1, 4-0 LSC) earned their 11th straight win which establishes a new program winning-streak record, while the Mustangs (15-4, 4-1 LSC) had their 11-game winning streak snapped and are now 9-1 on their home court this season. ASU finished the game shooting 46.6 percent and limited MSU to 33.3 percent (18 of 54). The Rams, who owned a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint and are now the only undefeated team in LSC play remaining, had a 28-26 halftime lead in a low-scoring first half before outscoring the Mustangs by 15 in the second half.
"Midwestern is a very physical team and we knew this was going to be a hostile environment to play in," Mayfield said. "We knew that we were going to have to stay poised throughout the game and stay with our game plan. It was a low-scoring game in the first 10 minutes and we just needed to calm down. Coach had to burn a timeout early in the first half to calm our emotions and tell us to just execute the game plan. We were able to do that the rest of the game to get this big win."
Marsell Holden added 13 points, three assists and three steals, while
Raijon Kelly had 14 points and four rebounds in the game. Holden went 3 of 5 on 3-pointers, while Mayfield made 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Mayfield went 8 of 16 from the field and had eight defensive rebounds and two assists in the game.
Chris Jones added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, while
Omari Gudul had eight points. ASU finished the game 27 of 58 from the field, including hitting 6 of 13 shots from beyond the arc. The Rams also had a 41-37 rebounding advantage and a 12-0 advantage in fastbreak points.
"This game was won with our defense," ASU head coach
Chris Beard said. "To hold a great team like Midwestern State to 33 percent shooting says a lot about our guys coming out ready to play and playing hard for 40 minutes. Midwestern did miss some easy shots along the way, but our defense was strong throughout the game."
The Mustangs finished the game shooting 3 of 16 from beyond the arc. Kevin Wagner led MSU with 11 points, while Derrell Gibbs and Khapri Alston each had 10 points. Angelo State improved to 5-1 away from home with the win and earned its second win of the season over a nationally ranked opponent. The previous top-25 win came over then-No. 3 Tarleton State at home. The win in Wichita Falls was the second in three seasons, but also only the second in 22 games played at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum. ASU earned a 53-50 win over the Mustangs on their home court in 2013 to snap a 20-game losing streak in Wichita Falls.Â
The Rams will return to action at 6 p.m. on Saturday against Cameron (10-7, 2-3 LSC) at the Junell Center. ASU is 11-0 at home this season and 22-2 at home over the past two seasons. The Aggies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 78-71 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday in Lawton. CU is 3-5 away from home this season and went 0-3 against the Rams last season, including a 64-59 Angelo State quarterfinal win in the LSC Championships in Allen.Â