Laredo, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball team closed their opening weekend of Lone Star Conference play with a 69-63 win over Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon inside the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Center.

Three Rams – Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, Kevon Godwin, and Trey Farrer – scored in double figures as the Rams shot 40.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.

A tightly-contested first half saw the lead change hands multiple times, with that trend continuing through the first media timeout of the second half. However, a jumper from Godwin at the 15-minute mark in the second half gave the Rams the lead, one they held onto for the remainder of the contest.

For the second time this season, Embery-Simpson led the Rams in scoring, doing so with 19 points and making a pair of threes. Defensively, the graduate student guard nabbed a pair of steals.
Godwin had 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field, also leading the Rams with four assists.

Farrer came one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points to go with nine rebounds, including five boards on the offensive glass. Farrer's contribution extended to the defensive end of the floor, where he blocked a pair of shots and grabbed two steals.

As a team, the Rams out-rebounded the Dustdevils 39-22.

Shemar Smith had nine points and six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench; Willie Guy had seven points and five rebounds, while DJ Freeman had five points and seven rebounds.

The Rams improve to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in LSC play; head coach Vinay Patel improves to 7-0 in LSC play in November and December.

The Rams return home for a three-game home stretch as they host UAFS and Oklahoma Christian next weekend before hosting UT Permian Basin on Tuesday, December 12^th.