STEPHENVILLE – The No. 19-ranked Angelo State Rams had the most successful season in program history come to an agonizing end in the NCAA Division II South Central Championship finals with a 66-64 loss to top-seed Tarleton State on Tuesday at Wisdom Gym.

The Rams (28-6) established multiple records throughout the season, including reaching the third round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history and winning the most games in a season. ASU, which also played for a Lone Star Conference championship before battling for the regional title, had never won a game in the national postseason before this season where they earned wins over Texas A&M-Commerce in the quarterfinals and then a semifinal win over Midwestern State before falling to the Texans (30-3) in the Sweet 16.

"It was one of those games where whoever had the ball last was going to have a chance to win it," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "We had our opportunities, but this game did not come down to the last couple of plays. In basketball, there are about 180 possessions in most games, and each possession is equally important. We gave ourselves a chance. Give Tarleton credit, they played well, are well-coached and they have a lot of tradition with a great home court.

"This will sting, but I think when we look back and reflect we'll be proud of what we did this year. We gave them a game and did not look like a six seed tonight. I'm proud of our team and look forward to playing in more games like this as we build our program."

Chris Jones and Raijon Kelly led the Rams with 15 points each, while Omari Gudul went for 10 points and six rebounds. Demario Mayfield and Marsell Holden each had nine points and Tommy Woolridge scored four for the Rams who finished the game shooting 26-for-52 (50 percent). ASU went 5 of 13 from beyond the arc with Holden hitting two 3-pointers and Jones, Kelly and Woolridge each hitting one 3-pointer. Jones and Mayfield were both named the NCAA Division II South Central Championship All-Tournament team.

The Rams played the Texans close throughout and had a chance to tie the game when Brentine Taylor grabbed a rebound off a missed Holden free throw and put up a shot with one second left. It fell short, giving the Texans a 66-64 win. ASU had two second-half leads with Holden hitting a 3-pointer to give the Rams a 30-29 lead in the opening moments of the half and then had a 42-39 advantage when Woolridge hit a 3-pointer and then a free throw with 13:39 to play. TSU responded to losing the lead with a 9-0 run which finished on a Davene Carter dunk before Gudul ended the run with a layup to take the score to 48-44 with 10:18 remain.

With the clock ticking down, the game tightened and saw a three-point game at 55-52 when Kelly hit a layup with five minutes remaining. It was a one-point game at 56-55 on another Kelly layup with just under three minutes remaining and then back to four with Malcolm Hamilton taking it to 59-55 with a dunk. Like they had accomplished all game, ASU got right back in the fight with Jones drilling a 3-pointer to bring the game to 59-58 with 1:13 on the clock.  The Rams and Texans exchanged baskets in the opening 10 seconds of the second half and then again with Mo Lee hitting a layup for TSU with 30 seconds to play and then Mayfield taking the score back to one at 62-61 with 21 seconds remaining. EJ Reed hit two free throws to give the Texans a 66-63 lead with eight seconds before Holden was fouled and made the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second to give the Rams an opportunity for the last second shot.  

Lee, who was named the tournament's MVP, led the Texans with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Michael Hardge had 13 points and four assists. Reed, who went 2-for-2 on 3-pointers and then hit the two crucial free throws late in the game, finished with 12 points. TSU finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field and went 6-for-18 on 3-pointers. The Texans also went 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from the free-throw line.

Jones led the Rams with eight points in the first half, while Kelly added seven points and four rebounds after shooting 3-for-6 from the field including hitting a 3-pointer. Mayfield had three points and three rebounds in the first 20 minute for ASU which shot 42.9 percent from the field but went 2-for-7 on 3-pointers and were only 1-for-3 from the free-throw line. On the other side of the court, Tarleton went 7-for-11 from the free-throw line and shot 41.7 percent from the field. TSU went 2-for-8 from beyond the arc with Hardge leading the way with 10 points and Lee adding six.

"The theme of this year's team was to play together and even though we came up short tonight, let me be clear," Beard said. "Those guys are winners. Those five seniors are winners. Look up Chris Jones, Demario Mayfield, Raijon Kelly, Marsell Holden and Tommy Woolridge in two years and look where they're at. Look in 10 years and those guys are going to be good fathers, good husbands and successful people. They're all going to get their degrees and they're exactly what I stand for and what Angelo State basketball stands for. I'm so proud to be their coach. This journey was special."