SAN ANGELO, Texas – The No. 9/12 Angelo State basketball team downed Eastern New Mexico, 100-67, in the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center on Saturday evening.
Never trailing in the game and having five players mark double-digit points, the Rams moved to 17-4 overall and 5-4 in the Lone Star Conference. The offense shot an outstanding 61.1 percent from the field, 70.7 from the top of the box and tallied a team total 18 assists. The team has scored six 100 point games this season which ties the most 100 point games in a single season in program history. The ASU bench also outscored the opposition 46-to-20. Defensively, ASU out rebounded the Greyhounds 44-to-2 4. ENMU slides to 6-15 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
"It felt good to get the win tonight," said ASU head men's basketball coach Cinco Boone." We always talk about protecting the home court and that in this conference you need to win your home games. I thought that the last two days of practice really prepared us. The guys were locked in and really did a good job and they came out and executed well today."
Quay King opened the game up for the Rams hitting a 3-pointer to give the team its first lead of the game, and ASU would never look back. At the 14:36 mark in the first, Thomas Tshikaya opened up a 9-2 run with a free throw that would give Angelo State an 11 point lead at 23-12. Despite the Greyhounds best defensive efforts they could not stop the scoring as the Rams increased its lead to 20 points and enter halftime with a score of 50-30.
ENMU would come out of the break with a sizable 10-4 run until the 16:45 mark. This is when Omari Gudul pulled down a board off of a missed jumper and immediately converted the opportunity to points with a jumper inside the paint. This kicked off a 20-2 run that allowed ASU to pull away. The run ended with 74-42 on the board and 11:13 left in the game. With 00:43 seconds on the clock, a Shaquan Rhoades free throw gave the squad its greatest lead of the game with 39 point and the score sitting a 100-61. The game was closed out with ENMU making a pair of last minute threes that closed the gap to 33 points.
Stedman Allen led the Rams offense scoring 21 points for the night. This is his 12th consecutive game scoring in double-figures and his sixth game with at least 20 points. He was 6-of-9 from the field and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. The senior also lead the defense with seven total boards for the night.
Tshikaya was next on the points list marking a team second 15 points. This was a season second for the junior and the fifth time he has mark double-figures on the year. He had his best performance from the stripe this season knocking out 5-of-7 free throws. Defensively, he grabbed a team second five rebounds and was one of four players to record a block on the night.
Tre Bennett and Shaquan Rhoades both recorded 13 points for the game. This was Bennett's 12 consecutive game sinking double-figure points and 18th of the season. The point guard led the team adding eight assists and three steals to his numbers for night. Rhoades shot an outstanding 5-for-6 for a .833 shooting percentage from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc for .667. He added two steal to the team's defensive efforts against the Greyhounds.
"It was good to have Shaquan back in the lineup tonight," added Coach Boone. "The 13 points are great, but his energy, enthusiasm and defense is always there and always consistent."
Prince Foster rounds out the top performers for the night recording 10 points also hitting 5-for-6 from the field. He also recorded a team second six boards and two steals. He added a block to complete his stats for the night.
The Rams will return to action on Wednesday, February 10 in the Junell Center to take on Tarleton State at 7:30 p.m. This game will be broadcasted live on RamTV (Suddenlink Channel 6) and 1260AM KKSA.
