SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team closed out the regular season and celebrated its senior class on Saturday evening as it loss to Western New Mexico, 77-72.

The Rams fall to 18-10 overall and 9-9 in the conference with the loss. ASU had three score in double-figures with Daron Mims leading the way with 18 points as he marked 16^th game with double figure points. Seniors, Brandon Williams and DeVaughn Jenkins completed the group with 13 points each. The Rams outscored WNMU in second chance points (22-6), bench points (23-21) and points in the paint (48-40).

Jenkin also led the defense with 10 boards as he recorded his first career double-double at ASU. In addition, contributing to the Rams defensive efforts, Williams and James Kirksey each pocketed a pair of steals. Angelo State out rebounded (50-31) and out blocked (3-2) Western New Mexico for the game. With Saturday's win, WNMU completed its 2017-18 season with a record of 6-21, 3-15 LSC.

Williams got the Rams rolling as he dropped in the first points of the game with a short-range jumper. This kicked off an 8-2 run for ASU, with Mims scoring the following six straight points. 14:41 into the half, Kirksey would race down the court and slam the ball for a fastbreak dunk that gave the Rams an 18-9 lead.

Less than a minute later, at the 13:38 mark, a pair of jumpers from Mims and Jenkins push ASU to a double-digit lead (22-12). This would also become part of a 9-0 run that would culminate with a 3-ball from Will Adler and give the squad its largest lead of the half with a 15 point advantage (27-12).

The Mustangs would then proceed to methodically chip away at Angelo State's lead. WNMU would close out the half with a final shot to take a one-point lead. The two teams would head into the locker rooms with ASU trailing 37-36.

Ja'Michael Brown opened the second half with a trip to the charity stripe that would bring the game to an even 37. Williams immediately followed with a jumper that gave the lead back to the Rams. Angelo State maintained the lead through the 13:31 mark in the second with big shots from Kirksey, Jenkins, brown and Davion Cole-Johnson.

With 12:46 left in the half, WNMU once again brought the score even (51-51) and then took a 57-51 lead with just under 11 minutes left. However, Angelo Stage would once again battle back and maintain a lead until the 1:17 mark. At this point, a 7-2 run would allow the Mustangs to take the final lead and the game.  

Angelo State will now prepare to head to the Dr Pepper arena in Frisco, Texas for the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament. As the fifth seed, the Rams will get things started with an opening round match-up against the fourth seeded Lions of Texas A&M – Commerce. Tip-off for this game is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, March 2. The winner of this game will move on to the next round to face either West Texas A&M or Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m.