SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball teams opens its 2015-16 home schedule with a match up against Arlington Baptist College on Tuesday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m.
After a stellar performance against the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Adams State the Rams now sit at 2-0 on the year. ASU is 4-0 all-time against Arlington Baptist having last faced the Patriots on December 16 of last year with a 99-67 result in favor of the Rams. ABC will be entering the match-up looking to rebound from a loss to Texas College. The Patriots currently have a record of 1-2 thus far this season.
"We are really excited and looking forward to playing at home," said Angelo State head men's basketball coach Cinco Boone. "A home opener is always exciting when you are playing here at the Junell Center. With it being a double header we are hoping that there will be good home crowd especially with the ASU student body. We are also looking forward to the process of getting better with a good team coming in with Arlington Baptist."
With two games under their belt, the Rams currently lead the Lone Star Conference with 181 total points scored and are sitting at second in both the scoring offense average (90.5) and scoring margin (9.0) categories. With its LSC leading .826 free throw shooting percentage, Angelo State has capitalized off of fouls dropping in 57-of-69 from the foul line this past week.
ASU will look to junior guard Shelton Boykin to lead the scoring attack Tuesday night against ABC. After heading up the squad with 18 points against Adams State, he improved upon it with a 24 point performance the following afternoon against UCCS, Boykin was selected to the Texan Tip-off Classic All-Tournament Team. With 42 total points scored and a 21.0 points per game average the guard is currently tied for first in the LSC in both categories. His 13 total rebounds for the week, 10 of which were defensive and three of which were offensive, was second on teh team. Boykin also contributed four steals to the Rams defensive efforts.
"Shelton has a great knack for scoring the basketball and we will be challenging him to continue to improve defensively and rebounding-wise with his length and athleticism," Boone said on what he will be looking for from Boykin Tuesday night. "We will also be looking for him to stay consistent with his shooting percentages and he is a very talented offensive player."
Stroking in a team second 37 points this past week, Tre Bennett will conduct the offense for the Rams as the main point guard. Sinking 17-of-18 from the foul line this year, the Houston, Texas, native has been the leading contributor to the Rams LSC leading free throw standing. He is presently sporting a team leading .944 free throw percentage for the season. Bennet led the team with seven assists.
Also making a serious contribution to the Rams scoring efforts this season has been forward Stedman Allen. Scoring a total of 31 points in the past two games, he led the team with a 25 point showing against UCCS. He is currently second on the team in shooting at .900 percent from the free throw line sinking nine of his past 10 attempts from the line. Defensively, Allen also tallied four steals this past week.
With a team leading 59 minutes played over the past two games, Omari Gudul chalked up his first double-double of the season in the team's season opener with an 11 point and 11 rebound showing. The sole returner from last season led the squad with a LSC second 18 total rebounds. Gudul also contributed 20 points, five blocks and five assists to the mix.
Providing stellar depth for ASU will be Prince Foster and Quay King, both having had solid outings for the Rams this past week. Foster hit 6-of-11 field goals and was 7-of-9 from the foul line giving him 19 total points for the week. His six blocks led the team and places him second in the LSC. He also added three steals to his numbers for the season over the weekend. King made an appearance in Saturday's match-up hitting 5-of-7 from the 3-point line and totaled 19 points for the game.
Tuesday's home opener will be carried on 1260 KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call
