SAN ANGELO – The No.8 ranked Angelo State men's basketball team will close out 2016 with a home match-up with Dallas Christian College on Thursday, December 29 at 4 p.m. before hitting the road for a New Year's Eve conference road game against Cameron on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Rams, who continue to remain undefeated with a record of 8-0, 1-0 LSC, as one of only 11 nationally ranked teams that remain undefeated thus far. ASU is only four wins away from tying last season's 12-0 start. Along with being ranked No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll and No. 8 in the D2SIDA Media Poll, the Angelo State defense is currently ranked second in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (32.4). The Ram's offense is fourth in the conference throwing down 82.1 points per game as it is outscoring opponents by a conference fourth 13.6 points per game.  

Thursday's home match-up with DCC will mark the fourth meeting between the two programs with the Rams owning the series record 3-0. The last meeting between ASU and Crusaders took place on November 24, 2000 and resulted in a 131-38 bashing of DCC. The Crusaders are currently winless in 2016.

The Rams will then hit the road to Lawton, Oklahoma seeking to extend upon its 1-0 LSC record against the Cameron Aggies. CU, which is currently boasting a 9-4, 2-1 LSC record, will be looking to rebound after its last game which resulted in a loss to East Central University. The Last Lone Star Conference match-up that the Aggies partook in was against Texas A&M - Kingsville, in which resulted in a close 78-71 victory for Cameron. The Rams currently own the series between the two teams, 25-17.   

Senior Quay King continues to lead the ASU's offense on the court as he put away a career-high 28 points in the Rams last game against Simon Fraser in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic. He is currently averaging 3.88 buckets from beyond the arc, which places him within the top 15 in the nation and first in the LSC.  Averaging 21.1 total points per contest so far also places King at the top of the conference. The Atlanta, Georgia native has climbed into the second spot on the squad with 39 total boards in 2016.

Angelo State will also look towards Lorenzo Dillard and Prince Foster to assist the Rams with ball distribution and point production. Dillard is second on the team averaging 14 points per game. The point guard continues to lead Angelo State with 39 total assist on the season which averages 4.9 assists per game. Foster is third on the squad scoring an average of 12 points per game and pulling down an average of 4.5 rebounds per game. He currently leads the team with 14 total steals on the season.

Thomas Tshikaya and Justin Hollins will anchor the Rams defense efforts. Tshikaya is averaging a squad high 9.8 boards per game and had assisted the offense with 11.9 points of production per game. He is second on the Rams with 10 blocked shots. Hollins continues to lead the team with 14 total blocked shots to date. This gives the a 3.5 blocks per game average.

ASU will also be looking to DeVonte' Pratt, Gustavs Puhovs, Michael Thomas and Brandon Williams to aid the Rams on court successes. Pratt enters this week's match-ups with an improved 6.8 points per game average.  The senior is third on the team with 9 steals this season. Puhovs is averaging 7.1 points per match up and has totaled 19 total boards this season. Thomas is averaging 3.8 rebounds per game and is currently sporting a .533 shooting percentage from inside the arc. Finally, after his first two appearances of the season since becoming eligible, Williams is averaging 12 points and 5.5 boards per game. He dropped in a stellar 18 points against the Rams last opponent (Simon Fraser).

Both of this week's match-ups will be broadcasted live on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call. Thursday's game against Dallas Christian will also be broadcasted live in high definition on RamTV (Suddenlink 6 & 106HD).