STEPHENVILLE- The Angelo State basketball team survived a late surge from UC-Colorado Springs Saturday afternoon, hitting free throws down the stretch to hold on for an 84-74 win in the Tarleton Classic.
The win moved the Rams to 2-0 to start the regular season and gave them an important early victory over a fellow South Central Regional opponent.
UCCS built a quick lead to start the game, scoring the first six points before James Kirksey got to the free throw line and made both shots to get the Rams on the board. The Mountain Lions held onto their lead through the first media timeout with 15:49 left to play, but ASU took over there.
Out of the timeout, Josh Boutte hit a layup that sparked a 20-2 Angelo State run, eventually putting them ahead 26-14 with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
Boutte reached the double-digit scoring mark for the second straight game, tying for the team lead with 19 points. He also had the first double-double of his ASU career, pulling down a team-high 16 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass.
Ronald Bell was the other Ram to finish with 19 points and he added in eight rebounds as well, but the Rams spread the scoring around overall, as Kirksey, Daron Mims and Collin Turner all finished in double figures.
UCCS finally slowed the run and cut its deficit back down to single digits late in the first half, but when the two teams went into the locker room, ASU was up by 13.
The Mountain Lions started off hot again in the second half, cutting the Ram lead back down to seven before Bell hit a put-back layup to slow the momentum. The layup sparked a quick 9-0 run by ASU that was capped off by a Boutte dunk and gave the team some breathing room again.
Angelo State continued to build out the lead, getting it to 19 point on a Mims jumper with 13:12 left to play in the game before UC-Colorado Springs began fighting their way back.
With just over seven minutes to play, UCCS mounted their comeback effort, going on an 8-3 run and closing the gap to just eight points with three minutes remaining. Mims hit a layup to get it back to double-digits, but UCCS followed with back-to-back buckets and a made free throw to get it all the way down to four points with 1:15 left to play.
The Mountain Lions had to foul to stop the clock though, and Kirksey hit both penalty shots and then got a breakaway dunk after a steal by Mims to seal the victory.
Four made free throws by Turner in the final 10 seconds iced the games for the Rams, who left Stephenville with a perfect record.
ASU will now return home to host the Ed Messbarger Classic next weekend, taking on Jarvis Christain College and St. Edward's at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
