KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball made it three wins in a row on Friday, defeating Northwest Nazarene 73-65 at the Gil E. Steinke Center in Kingsville.

The Rams open the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season, earning three victories over Division II opponents to start the year.

Both teams started the first half back and forth with neither able to find an advantage, tied 28-28 with just under six minutes to play in the break.

ASU broke away right before the end of the half, using a 10-2 run with six points coming from Andre Nunley to take a 44-33 lead into the locker rooms.

Four players for the Rams finished in double figures in scoring with Devaughn Thomas leading the way with 13 points. After that, three others tied with 12 points in Tyrell Carroll, Paul Williams, and Lathaniel Bastian.

The Rams kept things going in the second half as Carroll scored the first five points while ASU scored 12 straight to start the period to extend their lead to 23 points, 56-33.

ASU shot 42 percent from the field while going 81 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 13-of-16. The Rams defense held the Nighthawks to only 19 buckets, allowing a shooting percentage of 32 percent.

The Rams continued to find ways to score, keeping their double-digit lead of the majority of the second half before NNU cut it to eight points with less than 20 seconds to play.

ASU tallied 39 points off the bench, outscoring the Nighthawks in the paint 36-16. ASU defense pestered NNU all night, totaling 16 steals on the night with six coming from Carroll.

The Rams collected 40 rebounds on the night led by Thomas with eight while BJ Anderson tallied six boards and Bastian finished with five along with four blocks.

Angelo State continues play at the Javelina Classic as they take on Dallas Christian on Saturday, Nov. 20 with tip-off set for 3 p.m.