WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The Angelo State basketball team defeated Arkansas – Fort Smith, 92-85, in the quarterfinal round of the South Central Regional on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams improved to 24-6 on the season and advance to the semifinal round for the South Central Regional Tournament. This is the second time in program history that the team advances to the semifinal game. The team's last trip to the semifinal round of the regional came during the 2015 season, when the Rams defeated Midwestern State, 66-49. The Arkansas – Fort Smith Loins ended its season with a 23-9 record.
"I thought it was a tail of two halves and a game of run," said ASU head coach Cinco Boone. "In the first half I felt like the team couldn't miss, we were getting to the foul line and our defensive pressure was pretty good. Then in the second half I think we came out a little comfortable with the lead and then they caught on fire and got going up and down. It's something that we have done in some games here lately. We will get a big lead and then make things interesting at the end, but this group always finds a way to make the big plays and pull it out."
ASU's offensive attack allowed to Rams to maintain the lead throughout the game. The squad had four players score in double figures and shot 51.7 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from beyond the arc and 75.8 percent from the charity stripe. The Rams outscored the Lions 17-8 on second chance points. Angelo State also out-rebounded UAFS 40-25.
Angelo state came out aggressive and determined to start the game. Stedman Allen got the ball rolling for the team as he dropped in the first jumper of the game that took Angelo State on a 10-2 run. At the 13:14 mark of the first half and the score 20-11, a Prince Foster 3-pointer gave the team a double-digit lead that it would maintain. ASU took its largest lead of the game when Tre Bennett added a three ball of his own to give the Rams a 53-33 lead. A quick 3-pointer and a made foul shot for UAFS closed out the half with a score of 53-37.
Riding the momentum of the final 3-pointer made in the first half, UASF continued to cut the Rams lead with an 11-5 run to place the score at 58-48 at the start of the first half. With 14:45 left in the game, a small 6-2 run was crafted by Allen and Bennett to regain the 16 point lead, 66-50, for the Rams. The Lions began to chip away at the lead and had pulled to within a single point, 80-79, at the 3:02 mark. A pair of free throws and from Quay King ended the UASF run with 2:04 left in the game. An 11-6 run by the Rams closed the game out.
Allen led the team scoring a career high 26 points as he was 10-of-15 from the field. This was his second consecutive game marking a career high and his second consecutive scoring in double figures. He also added a steal and five boards to his numbers.
Bennett followed with a team second 20 points. He hit 5-of-7 from the field, 4-of-5 from the arc and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the stripe. This was the senior's 21st game scoring double-digit points and his eighth game scoring at least 20 points. He led the squad with seven assists and two steals on the afternoon.
Thomas Tshikaya and Quay King completed the Rams that marked double-digit points. Tshikaya recorded 14 points and pulled down a team second seven boards. While King dropped in 11 points and led the team with three steals. This was the guard's fourth consecutive game in double-figures.
Finally, Prince Foster grabbed a team leading nine rebounds. This was a career high for the Miami, Florida native. He also added six points and 3 assists to the Rams offensive efforts.
The Rams return to the court in D.L. Ligon Coliseum on the campus of Midwestern State on Sunday March 13 to face Fort Lewis College in the semifinal round at 5 p.m. The Skyhawks are currently 28-3 on the season and are coming off a 95-87 win over Dallas Baptist in its regional quarterfinal game.
