SAN ANGELO - The Angelo State men's basketball team continues postseason play this weekend at the NCAA South Central regional as the eighth seed in the region, where they will open the tournament against the hosts and top seed, West Texas A&M.
LAST TIME OUT
The Rams fell in the quarterfinals of the LSC Tournament last Thursday to eventual tournament champions Eastern New Mexico, 103-84.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson led all players with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 shooting from three.
Kevon Godwin had 19 points, making three three-pointers, and
Willie Guy had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
GODWIN CLIMBS UP CAREER SCORING LIST
Kevon Godwin became the 13th player in program history to score 1,000 points for the Blue and Gold earlier this season and the ninth player to score 1,100 points. Godwin currently has 1,130 points, eighth in program history. He is two points away from tying former teammate Paul Williams (2018-22) for seventh on the all-time scoring list.
RAMS AT THE NCAA REGIONAL
The Rams are 6-10 all-time at the NCAA Tournament; this marks their tenth-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This is also the third-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for the Rams, the first time they've ever accomplished that in program history. Head coach
Vinay Patel is also the first coach in program history to make the regional in his first two seasons at ASU. Last season, the Rams won their opening-round game versus Colorado Mesa before falling to WT. The win over the Mavericks was the Rams' first win at a regional since 2016.
RAMS ALL-LSC HONORS
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson was named the LSC Newcomer of the Year, and he and
Kevon Godwin were named to the All-LSC First Team.
Willie Guy was named to the All-LSC Third Team, and
Trey Farrer was an All-LSC Honorable Mention.
Game 1
(8) Angelo State at (1) West Texas A&M
Saturday, March 16th - 5 p.m.
First United Bank Center
Watch Live | Live Stats | Listen Live
The Buffs finished regular-season play with a 26-3 overall record before falling in the opening round of the LSC Tournament to eight-seed Cameron, 93-89, in overtime in Frisco last weekend. The Buffs were LSC Regular-Season Champions with a 20-2 conference record and are led by LSC Coach of the Year Tom Brown.
WT scores 85.6 points per game, third-best in the LSC, and wins their games by a league-best 12.2 points per contest. They shoot 47.8 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from three. LSC Player of the Year Larry Wise scores 19.6 points per game, highlighted by an 88 percent shooting clip from the charity stripe. LSC Freshman of the Year Kieran Elliott scores 12.9 points per game and leads the Buffs with 6.9 rebounds per contest.
The Buffs' defense allowed 73.5 points per game; opponents shoot 44 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three against WT. LSC Defensive Player of the Year Ryland Holt is second in the league with 1.4 blocks per contest.
ALL-TIME VS. WT
The Rams are 23-58 all-time versus the Buffs. This is the third regional in a row where the Rams will face WT, and the Buffs have won each of the past two matchups at the regional. Last season, without
Kevon Godwin, the Rams fell in the regional semifinals to the Buffs, 69-59.
THIS SEASON VS. WT
The Buffs have won both matchups this season against the Rams, with the Buffs winning 88-73 in Canyon on January 11th and the two teams going to overtime on February 10th inside the Junell Center—Stephens Arena, where the Buffs eventually won 94-90.
THE REGIONAL FIELD
The regional quarterfinals start on Saturday at noon, where the three-seed Colorado Mesa will face off against LSC Tournament Champions Eastern New Mexico.
The next game will see RMAC Tournament Champions Fort Lewis, the two seed, take on Lubbock Christian at 2:30 p.m.
The Rams and the Buffs play at 5 p.m., which precedes the 7:30 p.m. nightcap, where DBU and Colorado Mines will close the first day out.
The winners of CMU/ENMU and FLC/LCU will play in the first regional semifinal on Sunday at 5 p.m. The winner of ASU/WT and DBU/Mines will face off in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
The regional final is scheduled for Tuesday, March 19th, at 7 p.m.
The Elite Eight is scheduled for March 26-30 in Evansville, Indiana.
RAMS ADD EIGHT
Angelo State brought in eight newcomers in 2023-24, including three from the Division I level and three from Division II.
Everson Armstrong
Freshman * 6-5 * Guard
Wall, Texas * Wall HS
2x District MVP; averaged 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals for the Hawks; All-West Texas MVP
Kendrick Delahoussaye
Junior * 6-0 * Guard
Lafayette, La. * Bossier Parrish CC
Averaged 14.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season; shot 84.1 percent from the free-throw line.
DJ Basey
Senior * 6-10 * Forward
Mesquite, Texas * Coastal Carolina
Shot 68.1 percent from the field for the Chanticleers.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson
Graduate Student * 6-3 * Guard
Midwest City, Okla. * Tulsa
Averaged 5.0 points per game across four seasons at Arkansas and Tulsa; four-star recruit out of IMG Academy.
Trey Farrer
Graduate Student * 6-9 * Forward
St. George, Utah * Westminster (UT)
2022-23 All-RMAC First Team; averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game; recorded eight double-doubles for the Griffons.
DJ Freeman
Junior * 6-6 * Forward
Midwest City, Okla.
Oklahoma Baptist
2022-23 All-GAC Honorable Mention; averaged 12.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season.
Shemar Smith
Junior * 6-7 * Forward
Norman, Okla. * East Central
All-GAC Honorable Mention in 2021-22; averaged 13.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Tigers.
Carvell Teasett
Junior * 6-1 * Guard
Baton Rouge, La. * Appalachian State
Shot 33 percent from three-point range for the Mountaineers; played first two seasons at Northwestern State in Louisiana, where he averaged 10.5 points per game.
PERSONAL BESTS THIS SEASON
- Twelve Rams have recorded at least one personal best this season.
- Guard Everson Armstrong scored six points against St. Mary's on Jan. 25, and grabbed two rebounds against UT Tyler on Feb. 24.
- Forward DJ Basey set a new career-high with four blocks against Western New Mexico on Jan. 4 and tied his career-high of eight rebounds against Oklahoma Christian on Dec. 9; he attempted a career-high 12 field goals and tied his personal best of eight field goals made against ENMU on Jan. 6.
- Forward Chris Boekhorst recorded his first-career assist against Arlington Baptist on Nov. 25; he made two shots against the Patriots, tying a career-high.
- Guard Kendrick Delahoussaye scored 14 points twice, doing so against Arlington Baptist and Lubbock Christian; he grabbed four rebounds versus Eastern New Mexico on Jan. 6 and assisted five times against LCU.
- Guard Keyshawn Embery-Simpson scored a career-high 37 points for the Rams against WNMU on Feb. 3. He has made seven threes twice, doing so against West Liberty and LCU. Embery-Simpson also went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe against WNMU on Feb. 3, a new career high in free throw makes and attempts. He blocked three shots on two occasions.
- Forward Trey Farrer grabbed four steals in the Rams' double-overtime contest against MSU on Jan. 18.
- Forward DJ Freeman tied his personal best with 11 rebounds against UAFS on Dec. 7.
- Guard Kevon Godwin tied his career high with seven assists twice this season, doing so against West Liberty and Eastern New Mexico. He also set a new career-high with seven steals versus Rollins on Dec. 17 and set a new personal best with eight threes made against St. Mary's on Jan. 25.
- Guard Willie Guy scored a career-high 21 points in the Rams' win over WNMU on Feb. 3; he assisted a career-high nine times versus Western New Mexico on Jan. 4. He grabbed eight rebounds against Cameron on Feb. 15.
- Guard Jacob Richardson scored his first bucket against Arlington Baptist on Nov. 25; he also recorded his first career rebound, assist and block. He recorded his first steal versus Rollins on Dec. 17.
- Forward Shemar Smith rejected a pair of shots in the Rams 101-98 win over No. 6 West Liberty on Dec. 18.
- Guard Carvell Teasett grabbed a new personal best of six rebounds in the Rams' win over Eastern New Mexico on Jan. 6.
