SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball team fell just short in a double-overtime thriller against top-ranked Lubbock Christian, losing 85-76 on Thursday night in a packed house at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center.
 
With the loss, the Rams move to 13-5 overall on the season and 3-3 in Lone Star Conference play while the Chaps remain undefeated at 18-0, 6-0 LSC.
 
Paul Williams led the Rams with 20 points on the night, shooting 5-of-14 from the field while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
 
The Rams opened the game with a bucket by Dante Moses and held the lead through the first eight minutes of play. LCU hit a three-pointer to go up 14-13 for the Chaps' first lead of the night.
 
Down 21-19, Angelo State closed out the first half on an 18-6 run to hold an 11-point lead at the break, 37-26.
 
LCU finished with a shooting percentage of 45 percent on the night while the Rams shot 37 percent from the field. ASU outrebounded the Chaps 47 to 45 while shooting 72 percent from the free-throw line. The Rams collected 20 points off of turnovers while scoring 18 fastbreak points.
 
The Chaps controlled the opening moments of the second half, scoring an 18-0 run to go up 48-42 with 12:35 to play in regulation.
 
Williams ended the drought for ASU, hitting a three-pointer before a 7-0 run by the Rams, including four free throws by Lathaniel Bastian and a three-pointer by Tyrell Carroll, tied the game at 56-56. Moments later, the Rams regained the lead after Bastian scored a layup to go up 60-58.
 
Carroll and Dante Moses both tallied 18 points on the night for ASU while adding six assists and six rebounds respectively. Bastian also tallied a double-double, finishing with 10 points while collecting 15 rebounds on the night.
 
Tied 63-63, Williams scored a layup to give the Rams the lead with 33 seconds to play before LCU turned around with a three-pointer to go up by one. With two seconds to play, Moses hit the tying free throw to send the game to overtime.
 
After trading buckets to start the first overtime period, Moses hit a three-pointer followed by a layup from Carroll to give ASU a 70-73 lead. The Chaps scored the final four points, hitting two free throws to extend the game once again.
 
After a bucket from Carroll, the Chaps scored six straight points in the second overtime before closing out with four made free throws to seal the victory.
 
The Rams return to conference action at home on Saturday as they welcome in Eastern New Mexico with tip-off set for 4 p.m.