Canyon, Texas – The Angelo State men's basketball team kicked off their weekend at the West Texas A&M Thanksgiving Classic with a 78-77 win over Fort Lewis on Friday evening inside the First United Bank Center on the campus of West Texas A&M.

The Rams' defense forced the Skyhawks into 23 turnovers, which the Rams scored 28 points off. The Rams also held FLC to 46.5 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three-point range.

The Rams converted on 24 of their 48 field goal attempts and shot 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Jesaiah McWright led the Rams in scoring with a career-high 21 points. Shooting 4-for-9 from the field, the senior guard made 13 of his 14 attempts from the charity stripe – the most by a player in the Lone Star Conference this season.

McWright also led the Rams with five assists and grabbed a pair of steals.

Ja'Queze Kirby scored 18 points while leading the Rams with seven rebounds and four steals.

Jaqai Murray scored 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field.

Quadir Pettaway scored eight points and secured three steals in 22 minutes off the bench. Jordan Crawford added seven points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Rams' record is 7-1 this season; they close their weekend tomorrow evening against Justice College, who are coming off a 36-point loss at the hands of No. 15 West Texas A&M this evening.