After pulling off an upset against West Texas A&M in the lone meeting of the regular season, No. 7 seed Angelo State University lost an 83-73 decision to the No. 2 seed Buffaloes in a quarterfinal of the Lone Star Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday in Frisco. .
The Buffs clung to a 40-39 halftime advantage before beating the Rams 43-34 the rest of the way.
ASU led 45-44 at 16:26 of the second half, but the Rams never led again.
WT improved to 26-6 and advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against No. 6 seed Midwestern State. ASU fell to 20-9.
Tyrell Carroll led the Rams with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Paul Williams (17) and Lathaniel Bastian (11) also scored in double digits, and Bastian had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Julius Brown did the heavy lifting for the Buffs, finishing with a game-high 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He was 4-of-5 from long range and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Larry Wise (17), Hayden Blankley (15) and Zach Toussaint (11) also finished in double figures for WT.
Both teams shot 43% from the field.
The Buffs finished with a 49-34 rebounding advantage.
The Rams will now find out if they will get a playoff offer. The NCAA Division II draft show is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
ASU was ranked No. 5 in South Central’s latest poll, and the top eight teams will earn a playoff spot.
Three Rams claim full LSC honors
All-conference honors were announced Wednesday night, and Carroll, Williams and Bastian were on the list.
Carroll, a junior guard, earned second-team honors and he was also named to the all-conference defensive team.
This is the second year in a row that Williams, a graduate student, has been honored. The Rams goaltender has been named to the third team.
Bastian, a second-year goaltender in his second season with the Rams, received honorable mention.
Charles Bryce is a journalist who covers sports in West Texas. Send him a topical tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider Supporting West Texas Journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.
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