KINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 15/22 Angelo State men's basketball team capped off its regular season on Saturday night downing Texas A&M – Kingsville, 90-84, on the road, and after a coin flip finished second in the Lone Star Conference.
The Rams finished its regular season with a 21-5 overall record and 9-5 in the LSC, which has allowed head coach Cinco Boone to finish the regular season as the most winning first year head coach in program history. Saturday's win also placed the Rams into a tie for second in the conference that would be decided by coin flip. ASU now holds the second seed entering the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament, which will start on Wednesday, March 2.
The ASU offense shot 59.6 percent from the field, as it had three players score in double-digits. The Rams outscored the Javelinas 42-21 on points in the paint and 21-10 on bench points. Defensively, ASU had six total players record at least one steal for the night. With the loss, Texas A&M – Kingsville falls to 11-14 overall and 3-11 in the LSC.
"For us to come way down here and come out with a win, it feels good," said ASU head coach Cinco Boone. "I felt like we were up and down. We shot the ball well because we got the ball to the open spots. Defensively, I don't necessarily like giving up 84 points but they are a hard team to guard because they are very scrappy and they run their offense very well. That team has gotten better with running their offense and they just keep improving. It was good for team to bounce back and get a road win because you never want to go into the tournament on a losing streak."
The first half saw five lead changes until Angelo State took it for the final time at the 7:40 mark in the first half with a Gustavs Puhovs 3-pointer that gave the Rams a 25-23 lead. At the 5:34 mark Thomas Tshikaya kicked off an 11-1 run with a jumper. This saw the Rams take is largest lead of the half with the score 40-30. Prince Foster then rolled in a buzzer beating layup that would take ASU into the half with a 46-38 lead.
Omari Gudul carried over the momentum from the first half by kicking off the final half with an authoritative dunk. Then at 15:26, Stedman Allen started an 8-1 run by sliding in a layup. Though Texas A&M – Kingsville tried to get things rolling with several small runs throughout the second half, the Rams maintained the lead. Tre Bennett scored the final points of the game as he sank a pair of free throws that gave the Rams the 90-84 victory.
Gudul led the offense by scoring a career high 27 points for the game. He was 10-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from the stripe. This accompanied by his 11 boards gave the senior his sixth double-double of the year. The forward's stellar performance was the most points scored since Tommy Woolridge scored 32 against Cameron on January 25, 2014. Gudul also led the squad as he marked three blocks on the night.
"I thought Omari [Gudul] was superb tonight," added Coach Boone. "His teammates did a good job of feeding him the ball once they saw he was hot. I challenged him this week to be the most energetic and enthusiastic player and his play really showed that tonight."
Allen was the second double-figure scorer for the night, posting 14 on the board against the Javelinas. This allowed the senior to finish his regular season having scored double-digits in 17 consecutive games. The New York native went 6-of-12 from inside the arc and 2-of-4 from the foul line. He led the defense pocketing three steals for the game.
Finally, Bennett was the final player to throw down double-digits points for the night as he also scored 14. This was also his 17th straight game scoring double-figures, as he was 3-for-5 from the field and 8-for-9 from the charity line. The point guard also led the team with seven assists.
The Rams will face the Javelinas again in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament on Wednesday, March 2 at 2:30 p.m. in Allen, Texas.
