SAN ANGELO, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball team stumbled at home, losing to UT Permian Basin 71-57 at the Junell Center on Tuesday evening.
 
The Rams fall to 14-6 on the season and 4-4 in Lone Star Conference play, while the Falcons improve to 12-9 and 4-5 in the LSC.
 
The Rams got out of the gate quickly with back-to-back three points from Paul Williams before a Fredelin De La Cruz jumper brought them ahead 12-4 early in the first frame.
 
UTPB answered with a 14-0 run of their own, taking the lead 23-15 with 7:08 to go in the first half. As both teams battled back and forth, the Falcons settled for a 40-29 advantage heading into the halftime break.
 
ASU struggled from the field throughout the game, shooting 38.6 percent from the field in the contest including 5-of-27 from downtown. Tyrell Carroll was efficient for the Rams, scoring a team-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
 
The Falcons shot 55 percent from the field while going 5-of-16 from three-point range while edging out the Rams under the glass with 35 rebounds to 30.
 
In the second half, the Rams kept up the fight, cutting UTPB's lead to five points after De Le Cruz hit a three-pointer to make it 46-41.
 
Williams added 15 points on the night followed by De La Cruz with 10 points while him and Devaughn Thomas collected seven rebounds each.
 
The Falcons continued to find ways to string points together, adding runs of seven and five straight points to keep the lead in their favor.
 
Angelo State will head back on the road this week as the Rams head to Silver City, N.M., to take on Western New Mexico on Thursday, Feb. 3 with tip-off set for 8:30 p.m. CST.