By Wes Bloomquist  ||  wes.bloomquist@angelo.edu

SAN ANGELO – This one was won on the defensive side of the court.

The No. 19-ranked Angelo State Rams opened Lone Star Conference play with an impressive 78-60 win over No. 3 Tarleton State on Wednesday, limiting the previously unbeaten Texans (12-1, 0-1 LSC) to a season-low 34.5 field-goal percentage and owning a plus-seven turnover margin advantage at the Junell Center. The Rams (13-1, 1-0 LSC) earned their eighth straight win, improved to 10-0 at home and beat the highest ranked opponent in program history, but more importantly, started conference play with a victory.

"Our team defense was good tonight against a talented, well-coached Tarleton team," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "Each win in conference play is so difficult and I'm happy for our players to get this first win. We are a good team when we get balanced scoring like we did tonight with four guys in double figures and when we defended."

Demario Mayfield led the Rams with 22 points and added five rebounds and three assists, while Marsell Holden knocked down three 3-pointers and finished the game with 16 points. Chris Jones ran the offense from the point guard position with precision, scoring 12 points and dishing out six assists, while also stifling the Texans with four steals. Raijon Kelly joined his teammates in double figures with 10 points and Omari Gudul added eight points and led the Rams with seven rebounds. Mayfield finished the game shooting 7 of 14 from the field and hit seven free throws, while Jones went 5 of 10 from the field and Holden hit 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc. Mayfield and Bilal Richardson each had two steals for the Rams who forced 16 Tarleton State turnovers, while ASU committed only nine turnovers throughout the 40 minutes of play. The Rams shot 38.2 percent from the field in the first half, but came out firing in the second half where they went 12 of 22 (54.5 percent) and also made 16 of 23 shots from the free-throw line. ASU finished the game shooting 44.6 percent from the field, including the 54.5 percentage in the second half when they expanded a 35-28 halftime lead and were up by as many as 21 points.

The Texans stayed close throughout the first half by hitting six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, but struggled from beyond the arc by going 2 of 9 from the second half. ASU owned the area around the basket, finishing the game with a 26-14 points in the pain advantage and also had a 39-36 rebounding advantage. TSU opened the game with 3-pointers from Malcolm Hamilton, Michael Hardge and EJ Reed to take a 9-4 lead, but the Rams responded with an 8-0 run which was capped by a Gudul jumper at the 13:28 mark and wouldn't trail the remainder of the game. TSU tied the game at 19 and then again at 22, but a 9-0 run by the Rams took the score to 31-22 with 3:40 remaining in the first half and put some distance between the two nationally ranked teams.

"We were locked in and stayed focused," Holden said. "We wanted to get a lead and keep building. Our team got some stops and caught a rhythm. It was a big win, but we're going to watch film and learn from it and head on to the next game."

ASU, which beat its first ranked opponent since topping No. 17-ranked Arkansas Tech 71-69 last season, went into halftime with the 35-28 lead and were up 49-36 when Mayfield drained his lone 3-pointer at the 12:17 mark of the second half. The lead grew to 20 for the first time when Kelly hit a pair of free throws with seven minutes remaining and it was pushed back to 20 when Holden hit his third 3-pointer with 1:05 to play.

Angelo State snapped a three-game losing streak to the Texans with the win and opened conference play with a victory for the first time since the 2009-10 season. ASU is now outscoring its opponents by a 30.3 scoring margin and is averaging 93.1 points per game. The story against Tarleton State though was on defense, where the Rams held the Texans to a season-low 60 points and field-goal percentage. The Rams are limiting opponents to 62.8 points per game and 37.3 percent shooting through 14 games this season.

Hardge led the Texans with 17 points and five assists, while TaShawn Mabry added 13 points and seven rebounds. Hardge and Mabry were the only Texans in double figures. TSU finished the game shooting 8 of 21 on 3-pointers in the game and 19 of 55 from the field.

Jones, who leads the nation in steals, now has 46 steals this season and 20 in the past four games. He also leads the Rams and the conference with 81 assists, while Holden is leading the conference with 42 3-pointers after hitting three on Wednesday against the Texans. Holden has made 19 3-pointers in the past four games, while Mayfield went over 20 points for the fifth time this season and leads the Rams with 16.4 points per game.

Angelo State will not play this weekend and return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 against West Texas A&M in Canyon before hosting Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 17 back at the Junell Center.