SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No.11/13 Angelo State men's basketball team handed the No.4/2 Midwestern State Mustangs its first Lone Star Conference loss with an 91-83 win on Saturday night in Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.

The Rams improved to 15-3 on the season and now boast a 3-3 conference record. The offense finished with its best 3-point percentage of the season recording a .556 from beyond the arc. It hit .448 percent from the field and .636 from the charity stripe. ASU outscored the Mustangs 28-21 from the bench and 24-17 on points off 22 MSU turnovers. Defensively, the Rams recorded double-digit steals (13) for the eighth game this season. With the loss MSU dropped to 16-2 and 5-1 in the LSC.    

"What a great team win," said ASU head men's basketball coach Cinco Boone. "I could not be more proud of the team, they battle, gutted it out and had some big plays. We have 15 assists and that is what we were doing early when we were 12-0 and in the last couple of games those numbers dwindled. Our shooting percentages were pretty good with the exception of the shots from the foul line and typically we are pretty good with those. We are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the conference. We have a week to get ready for Kingsville who we know will be a very good team."

Tied at 74, the Rams entered overtime having controlled the tempo for the majority of the game. Stedman Allen got the ball rolling with jumper from the paint to put ASU up by two. MSU answered with a jumper of its own to bring the score back to even at 76. After ASU turned the ball over, Prince Forster immediately regained possession for the Rams with a steal and drove the ball down the for a fast break slam. He then quickly pocketed another steal on the ensuing MSU possession but was fouled in the process. The forward nailed both free throws to put Angelo State up by four at 80-76 with 2:09. The Mustangs answered with a jumper but Tre Bennett kept the lead at four with a layup. A pair of MSU free throws brought the Mustangs back to within two at 82-80. DeVonte' Pratt tossed up a ball from deep and knocked down his only three of the game which pushed ASU ahead by five points. With 37 seconds left in the game Thomas Tshikaya pulled up from beyond the arc and swished a three that kicked of a 6-0 run that would close out the upset for the Rams.

ASU trailed at halftime 40-38 but opened the second half with an 11-4 run to regain a five point lead, 49-44. With 12:49 on the clock, Bennett pulled up on a fast break and nailed one from beyond the arc to give ASU its biggest lead of the game at 58-52. The Rams would hold on to the six point lead until 1:52 left in the game when a 7-1 MSU run would tie the two team up at 74 to force overtime.

In the first half, Quay King got the team started with a pair of deep threes right out of the gate. The teams kept it close, until the 4:42 mark when Gustavs Puhovs rolled in a layup that jump started a 7-0 run to put the Rams up by five at 36-31. However, the Mustangs would fight back with a 9-2 run to regain the lead and enter the half ahead 40-38.

King led the offense with a career high 21 points on the night. He hit five threes for the second time this season earning a .833 shooting percentage from beyond the arc. The junior also had his best night of the year from field going 7-of-10 for .700 percent. The native of Atlanta also lead the defense with eight rebounds. He added a steal and an assist to his totals, as well.

Seniors Bennett and Allen completed the list of three that marked double-figure points for the game. Both players moved their streak of double-digit points to nine consecutive games. Bennett capped his night with 16 points and stroked 4-of-4 from the foul line. He tied for the team lead with four steals and was tops on the team with seven assists. Allen tallied 15 total points for the night as he sunk 7-of-11 free throws. He also pulled down six boards.  

The Rams will receive a six day break before returning to the Junell Center on January 30 to take on Texas A&M – Kingsville. This game will begin at 4 p.m. and will be broadcasted live on RamTV (Suddenlink channel 6) and on 1260AM KKSA.