SAN ANGELO – The No. 4-ranked Angelo State Rams raced out to a 20-1 lead and never looked back in an 85-51 non-conference win over South Dakota School of Mines & Technology on Friday at the Junell Center.

The Rams (22-2) matched the all-time single-season program record for wins with the victory over the Hardrockers (8-16) and also improved to 15-0 at home. ASU also closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 13-1 record and will now host Midwestern State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday back at the Junell Center. ASU matched the all-time wins total which was also accomplished during the 1983-84, 1987-88 and 2000-01 seasons.

"We had a lot of objectives this season and one of them was to play really well during the non-conference part of our schedule," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "They're an important part to every season because they get you prepared for conference play and help you learn more about your team. I think we did a very good job throughout our non-conference schedule and now we have to stay focused and continue getting better."

The Rams opened the game with a 9-0 lead with and grew the advantage to 16-1 on a Marsell Holden 3-pointer and then to 20-1 after Brentine Taylor and Chris Jones hit a pair of jumpers. ASU, which led 48-24 at halftime, finished the first half shooting 63.3 percent from the field, including hitting six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes of play. The Hardrockers, on the other hand, were held to 30.8 percent shooting and went 2 of 9 from beyond the arc.

"It helps to get out to a big lead if you're hitting shots, but I really thought it was more than that tonight," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "I could tell that our team was really locked in mentally from the start and that they were ready to play at a very high level. That was great to see."

Holden led the Rams with 13 points after going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while Jones finished the game with 10 points, six assists and four steals. Jones went 5 of 9 from the field and also had four rebounds, while Demario Mayfield went for 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Mayfield was only one rebound away from securing his 11th double-double of the season. Tommy Woolridge had his third double-digit scoring performance after hitting three 3-pointers and finishing with 11 points, while Raijon Kelly and DeQuavious Wagner had eight points each. Kelly also had four assist and five rebounds in the win.

The Rams finished the game shooting 50.0 percent from the field, including going 9 of 16 from beyond the arc. ASU had only nine turnovers in the game, while forcing 20 turnovers from the Hardrockers.
Angelo State will return to conference play at 8 p.m. on Wednesday against Midwestern State in the second to last home game of the regular-season. The Rams lead the LSC standings with their 9-1 conference record, while the Mustangs are 7-3 in LSC play going into a Saturday game against Eastern New Mexico.

"This is a great time of year in college basketball," Beard said. "Wednesday's game will have a postseason feel here at the Junell Center with both of our teams playing really well right now. We have a lot of respect for Midwestern and we'll have to play well to win."