SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Late fouls hurt the Angelo State men's basketball team as the Rams dropped a close game to St. Mary's, falling 69-68 on the road on Friday night at Bill Greehey Arena.
 
With the loss, the Rams move to 3-6, 3-6 LSC on the season while the Rattlers improve to 2-4, 2-3 LSC.
 
Angelo State jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead after Sam Baker dunked to give ASU its ninth consecutive point to start the game. The Rattlers battled back to take a 14-13 advantage, earning their first lead since the opening basket of the game.
 
Both teams remained even throughout the first half with neither team gaining a lead of more than six points. With under a minute to play in the opening period, Baker found the basket again, hitting a shot to tie the game 34-34 at the break.
 
The Rams came out strong to begin the second half as Paul Williams scored five straight points, hitting a three to go up 39-34. Both teams continued to trade points before Devaughn Thomas started a 7-0 run for ASU, hitting a three before the Rams took their largest lead at 66-57 with 4:23 to play.
 
Thomas led the Rams offensively, scoring a game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds and two steals on the night. Behind him was Baker with 16 points and Williams with 15 points.
 
The Rattlers tallied 16 points from the free throw line, hitting 16-of-20 compared to 8-of-23 for the Rams. St. Mary's tallied 19 points off turnovers while collecting 11 steals in the game.
 
Down 66-57, StMU tallied six straight points, four coming from free throws before hitting a layup with 19 seconds left down 68-67. A late foul on the inbound pass gave the Rattlers an opportunity for two more free throws, sinking both to win.
 
Andre Nunley added nine points for the Rams while Burone Edwards collected six boards to go with five points.
 
The Rams will rematch the Rattlers tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m. in San Antonio.