Angelo pulls away late from Hounds

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Junior guard LaMarshall Corbett led a balanced attack with 19 points and Angelo State pulled away down the stretch to beat Eastern New Mexico University 84-72 Saturday night in Lone Star Conference men’s basketball.

The win keeps the Rams (16-9, 7-3 South) entrenched in third place in the division while all but eliminating the Greyhounds (8-16, 3-7) from postseason consideration.

Angelo State scored the first four points and never trailed, but the Hounds mounted a comeback hat spanned halftime, cutting a 40-26 deficit with four minutes left in the half minutes left in the half to 42-40 early in the second stanza.

The teams went back-and-forth from there, with the Hounds closing to within a point or two several times, the last at 59-58 on a 3-pointer by senior forward Equs Darby with nine minutes left.

Angelo’s Stavon Williams then converted six consecutive free throws over the next couple of minutes for a seven-point led. ENMU managed only two free throws over a 3 1/2-minute span as the Rams opened a 70-60 advantage.

After Reid’s jumper made it 74-64 with 4:37 left, the Hounds hit another dry spell and converted just two free throws to fall behind 84-66 with less than two minutes to go.

Williams finished 10-of-11 from the line and scored 18 points for Angelo, while Johnny Barnes added 16 points and eight rebounds, Shavar Burch scored 12 points and Derrick Webster pitched in 11.

Both teams shot just over 40 percent from the floor and went 3-of-11 from 3-point range, but Angelo State converted 33-of-39 free throws while the Hounds were 17-of-26.

Darby and junior guard Reggie Nelson scored 16 points each for ENMU. Junior guard Victor Reid followed with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior forward Tyler Jefferson added 10 points despite struggling to a 2-for-10 night from the field.

ENMU finishes the season with division games at Abilene Christian on Tuesday night and at home on Saturday against Texas A&M-Kingsville.