ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Angelo State men's basketball team finished the LSC/RMAC Challenge with a perfect 2-0 record, defeating Fort Lewis 98-87 on Sunday afternoon at the Pitt.
 
The Rams improve to 2-0 on the season after last night's win over New Mexico Highland to open the season. For the Skyhawks, they fall to 1-1 after defeating Eastern New Mexico in their first game of the challenge.
 
For the second game in a row, Devaughn Thomas led the Rams offensively, dropping a game-high 26 points against FLC while shooting 8-of-10 from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
 
BJ Anderson opened the scoring for the Rams, hitting a three-pointer for the first points of the contest before both teams battled to a 13-13 tie.
 
The Skyhawks took their largest lead of the game midway through the first half, scoring a layup to go up 19-5.
 
Their lead wouldn't last as Paul Williams converted an and-one and followed that up with a three-pointer to give ASU back the lead at 20-19. Williams finished with 19 points on the day while adding three assists.
 
Tied 28-28, the Rams used a 16-4 run to pull away from the Skyhawks late in the first half before settling on a 46-35 advantage heading into the break.
 
ASU finished shooting 57.6 percent from the field while making 13-of-26 from three-point range. The Rams shot 85 percent from the free-throw line compared to only 68 percent from the Skyhawks.
 
Fort Lewis continued to battle in the second half, keeping ASU's lead under 10 points for the majority of the half. With 7:19 to play, the Skyhawks took their only lead of the second half after hitting a three-pointer to go up 75-74.
 
The lead quickly went back in favor of the Rams as Thomas answered back with a three of his own before converting an and-one to give ASU a five-point advantage.
 
With just over five minutes to play, Tyrell Carroll extended the lead with another three-pointer by the Rams. He followed that up with another deep shot to give the Rams a 93-83 lead with 2:09 on the clock.
 
Lathaniel Bastian finished with 16 points on the day followed by Carroll with 14 and Dante Moses with 10 points. Thomas collected a team-high five rebounds while Bastian finished with four steals against the Skyhawks.
 
The Rams will travel to the Emerald Classic hosted by Texas A&M – Kingsville next weekend as they prepare for two games against Northwest Nazarene and Dallas Christian beginning Friday, Nov. 19.