Men's Basketball | 12/6/2016 2:07:00 PM

SAN ANGELO - The No. 11 Angelo State men's basketball team will open Lone Star Conference play this week with a matchup against Midwestern State at 7:30 Thursday in Wichita Falls.

The Mustangs were picked as the preseason LSC winners as voted on by coaches and media after winning the conference regular season championship last year. MSU has opened the season with a 6-3 showing in their first nine games, however, and the Mustangs have lost their opening two conference matchups on the road against Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce.

In the last 10 matchups with Midwestern State, both the Mustangs and Rams have come away with five wins each. Only two of those ASU victories, however, have come in Wichita Falls.

"They were picked number one preseason, so obviously everybody respects their talent," ASU head coach Cinco Boone said. "They're a very good basketball team, they have one of the best coaches in all of Division II and it's a very tough place to play."

ASU has not faced an LSC opponent yet this season, but the Rams are 5-0 on the season, boasting the conference's only undefeated record even after two close games this past week against St. Mary's and St. Edwards. The Rams need a last-second shot in overtime to beat the Rattlers and then used a free throw in the final seconds against St. Edwards to get the win.

"It's always hard to win on the road," Boone said. "There are some positives to take from winning close games on the road like that, but as a coach you would definitely prefer to not put yourself in those situations, so that's what we're going to be working on."

Even with the back-to-back nail-biting wins, the Rams are still out-scoring opponents by an average of 15.2 points per game, which ranks No. 2 in the LSC.

Both game-winning shots came from senior guard Prince Foster, who has been one of the Rams' top performers this season with 15 points per game and the second most rebounds on the team. The Miami native has contributed defensively as well with a team-most 10 steals this season.

"Prince has hit some pretty big shots for us, even going back to last year," Boone said. "It's good for us as a team to be look at him and know he's ready to take those shots in high-pressure situations, so I was proud of the way he handled it."

Although Foster has come through in the clutch, Quay King has been the team's leading scorer throughout the first five games. King is averaging 19.6 points per contest so far this year and is the conference leader in three-point field goals per game. Point guard Lorenzo Dillard follows close behind with 15.6 points per game and the junior has also created a number of scoring opportunities for his teammates with a conference-leading 5.4 assists per game.

Leading the team in rebounds this season has been forward Thomas Tshikaya, who pulled down double-digit boards in both matchups last week and set a career-high with 16 against St. Mary's. The senior is averaging 9.4 points per game and has seven blocks on the season as well.

The Rams have also seen significant contribution off the bench from DeVonte' Pratt and Gustavs Puhovs. Pratt is averaging 7.4 points per game this season and got his first double-digit scoring performance against St. Edward's. Puhovs also got into double-digits for the first time all season, scoring 13 against St. Mary's, and the Latvia native is shooting .444 from behind the arc as well.

The matchup will be broadcast live on 1260AM KKSA with the voice of the Rams, Jeremy Bryant, on the call.