SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team downed Western New Mexico, 97-61, in its Thursday night conference match-up.

With Thursday night's victory the Rams climbed to 11-4 overall and 3-4 in the Lone Star Conference. ASU's offense was only one 3-point field goal away from tying the program record of 15 threes in a single game, which was achieved during the 2006-07 and 2003-04 seasons. The Rams outscored the opposition 13-2 on fast break points with the bench dropping in 27 points. Angelo State also took advantage of its 15 second chance points to the Mustang's six. Four Ram players scored in double digits. WNMU fell to 2-14, 0-8 LSC with the loss.

"I think tonight's win was great for everyone," commented ASU Men's Basketball Head Coach Cinco Boone. "Western New Mexico tried to run some zone on us, but we broke them out of it by making some threes. Quay [King] and Chase [Riley] got some great looks and I thought our guys moved the basketball and set them up for some great shots tonight. Our motion offense was good tonight as we were getting the ball zipped and moved around. It was an overall great team effort."

Quay King led the squad tying his season high as he dropped in 28 points. The senior also tied his singl-game high with seven 3-pointers made. Defensively, he pocketed a team second two steals. Thomas Tshikaya's 14 points marked a team second for the night. The native of France also lead the Rams' defensive efforts with nine total boards.

Chase Riley and DeVonte' Pratt completed the double-digit foursome. Riley, who recorded 13 points on the night, sunk a career high three shots from beyond the arc. The guard also added a career high in steals as he tallied a team leading three for the night. Pratt rounded out the group as he added 11 points for the game.  

Point guard Lorenzo Dillard distributed the ball a team most nine times. This marked a career high for the junior. He also came away with eight total points hitting a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe.  

Brandon Williams and Justin Hollins anchored the team's defensive efforts against the Mustangs. Both Williams and Hollins closed out the game with eight total boards. In the blocked shots department, Hollins led the Rams with four for the night while Williams rejected one. Williams also assisted the attack sinking nine total points.

After the Mustangs opened the game sinking the first points, ASU responded going on an 11-2 run to take the seven point lead with 11-4 on the board. This would be the only time that WNMU would lead in the game, as the Rams quickly pulled away. With the score sitting at 18-11 at the 12:24 mark in the half, Tshikaya kicked off another lengthy 17-4 run that also saw big shots from Williams, King and Dillard. Western New Mexico would then slow close the Rams lead to 14 (42-28) before the two teams enter the break.

After a good jumper from Dillard to open the second half, WNMU continued to cut the Rams lead down to 47-35 with 17:50 left in the game. However, once again the Rams would respond with another run. This 10-3 run that was led by King scoring six of the 10 points and would give ASU a 19 point lead with 57-38 on the board. Angelo State would not look back as it continued to pour on the points. Riley would hit all of his threes in the final minutes of the game. Shaquan Rhoades and Napoleon Onyeje Jr. would close out the game for the Rams as each dropped in a shot from the stripe.

Angelo State will return to the Stephens Arena on Saturday, January 21 to face Eastern New Mexico at 4 p.m.  This game will be broadcasted live in high definition on RamTV (Suddenlink 6 & 106HD) and on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.