CANYON, Texas – The No. 9/12 Angelo State men's basketball team outscored West Texas A&M 45-43 in the second half but couldn't overcome a 17 point first half deficit falling 92-77 in Canyon on Wednesday night.
The Rams (16-4, 4-4 LSC) shot 42.6-percent in the first half and hit seven 3-pointers in the second half. West Texas A&M (18-7, 6-3 LSC) received 46 points from its bench and was able to score 24 points off 17 ASU turnovers.
Tre Bennet, who scored in double figures for the 11th straight game, tied a career high with 25 points and dished out five assists. Quay King added 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Stedman Allen extended his double figure scoring streak to 11 games with 11 points. Omari Gudul chipped in eight points and a team high nine rebounds.
The Rams came out in the second half and tried to erase a 17 point. Allen hit a jumper to start the scoring and King found his touch. The junior made a pull-up jumper and after a Bennett layup, he hit a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to nine at 50-41. West Texas A&M would take a 60-47 lead but ASU continued battling in the second half.
Down 60-47, Bennett hit two three pointers between an Allen free throw in a span of a minute to cut WT's lead to single digits at 60-54. WT scored four straight points for a 10 point lead but an Allen layup coupled with a pair of DeVonte' Pratt free throws made is just a six point deficit at 64-58. A 12-5 WT run pushed its lead to 76-63 with 8:09 to go in the game.
ASU used a jumper by Gudul and one of King's three 3-pointers to make it 76-68 but the Buffs held the Rams to six points over the final 6:18 for the final 89-74 victory.
West Texas A&M had a 9-8 advantage through the first three minutes of the game. The Buffs used a quick 11-2 run to build a 20-10 lead with 13:41 to play in the first half. Bennet hit a jumper and was fouled. He finished the old fashioned three point play and ASU reeled off 10 straight unanswered points to tie the game at 20. The 10-0 run was capped off with a Prince Foster 3-pointer. The Buffs answered with an 11-3 run before a layup by Napoleon Onyeje made it 31-25. Over the final 7:35 of the first half, West Texas A&M would outscore ASU 18-7 to take a 49-32 lead in at halftime.
West Texas A&M's Jerrod Walton led all scorers with 27 points and David Chavlovich added 24 points.
The Rams return home to host ENMU on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4 p.m. at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center.
