SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team continues its postseason run this weekend in the NCAA South Central Regional, facing RMAC school Colorado Mesa in the first round of the regional on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The Rams are 25-6 on the season and finished 19-3 in conference play. They made it to the Lone Star Conference tournament finals, making a valiant 15-point comeback against top-seed West Texas A&M before the Buffs hit a game-winner with three seconds left to lift the tournament title.
The Rams have been led all season by their all-conference trio of
Kevon Godwin,
Willie Guy, and
Fredelin De La Cruz. Godwin leads the team with 16.9 points per game, shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.
De La Cruz leads the team with 6.7 rebounds while scoring 10.5 points per game. The senior forward has recorded six double-doubles on the season.
Steve Webb, the 2023 LSC Defensive Player of the Year, has anchored a Rams defense that has only allowed 65.5 points per game this season. Webb's 52 steals are the most in a single season for the St. Louis native, who has 214 career steals, tied for fourth-most among all active Division II players.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa is 25-5 on the season and, like the Rams, went 19-3 in conference play. The Mavericks fell in the RMAC Semifinals to Colorado School of Mines and were the top-seeded team in the tournament.
Mac Riniker was the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, averaging 1.8 steals per game and 1.0 blocks per game, and Mavericks coach Mike DeGeorge was named the RMAC Coach of the Year.
All-RMAC selection Blaise Threatt leads the Mavericks' offense, scoring 19.2 points per game on 52.8 percent shooting from the floor. He has scored in double digits in all but one game this season.
The Mavericks and the Rams have only faced each other one prior time, doing so on November 28
th, 2014, with the Mavericks winning the game 70-67 on their home court in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the West Texas A&M/Texas A&M-Kingsville in the regional semifinal. The other side of the bracket features Colorado School of Mines facing Black Hills State and Fort Lewis taking on Lubbock Christian.
