SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 4 Angelo State men's basketball team will look to rebound from its first loss of the season and increase its 23-0 home winning streak with a match-up against Texas A&M- Commerce on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center at 4 p.m.
After falling to No. 9 Tarleton State on Wednesday night in its initial Lone Star Conference match-up of the 2015-16 season, the Rams are currently sitting at 12-1, 0-1 LSC. ASU will be facing an 11-2 Lions team that is fresh off its first conference win over Texas A&M – Kingsville. ASU split the series with TAMUC last season with each team taking two game. The Lions lead the all-time series between the two teams, 44-46.
Head coach Cinco Boone will look to team point leaders Tre Bennett, Stedman Allen and Shelton Boykin to lead the team's offensive attack. The Rams offense has continued to hold on to the No. 1 spot in the LSC for points scored per game with an average of 93.1, and in the scoring margin outscoring its opponents by an average of 18.6 points per game. The team is also boasting a conference leading .756 percentage from the foul line and an assists per game average of 18.08. On the defensive side of the ball, the squad will turn to its two big men Omari Gudul and Thomas Tshikaya, as it leads the LSC with 9.23 steals per game and forcing an average of 18.5 turnovers per game.
Bennett has proven to be a solid player for the Rams this season as he is currently leading the team in several categories. Dropping in an average of 16.5 points per game, he has scored double-figures in the past four games. He has scored at least 20 points in five games this season, his last coming against Tarleton State. With a .338 3-point shooting percentage, the senior point guard leads the team making an average of 2.4 buckets from beyond the arc. He also boasts a .849 shooting percentage from the foul line and is currently distributing the ball an average of 4.8 times per game.
Averaging 16.6 points per game, Allen leads the team hitting .547 from the field on the season. The Bronx native has marked double-figure points in 10 of 12 games played, and has hit a minimum of 20 points in four of those games this season. He is also one of three ASU players to have recorded multiple double-double games (two).
Boykin rounds out the top scorers for the Rams as he averages 14.4 points per game. He is currently hitting a team second .500 from the field and team third .706 from the charity line. Defensively, he leads the team in the steals averaging 1.8 steals per game and is tied for second averaging 6.3 boards per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, the squad will turn to its two big men Omari Gudul and Thomas Tshikaya, as it leads the LSC with 9.23 steals per game and forcing an average of 18.5 turnovers per game. Gudul is currently averaging 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. He has six games on the year with at least 10 boards and seven games with at least three blocked shots. Having scored in double-digits in six games this season, the senior has recorded a team leading three double-doubles. Tshikaya follows closely with a 6.3 rebound per game average and 0.9 blocks per competition. He has recorded a single double-double on year.
ASU will look to Prince Foster and Quay King to provide depth on both offense and defense against TAMUC. Foster is a solid all-around player and is currently second on the team in blocks per game (1.1), steals per game (1.3) and in assists per game (2.5). While King has proved masterful with the long ball averaging a team second 28 three pointers and a .326 shooting average from 3-point range.
Saturday afternoon's game will be broadcasted live on RamTV, Suddenlink Channel 6, as well as 1260AM KKSA with Jeremey Bryant on the call.
