Box Score SAN ANGELO – The Tarleton Texans opened Lone Star Conference play on Wednesday, falling 57-52 to Angelo State on the road at Stephens Arena inside the Junell Center.
 
Tarleton dropped its first LSC opener for the first time over the previous four games dating back to Jan. 14, 2009. The Texans are now 27-35 all-time against the Rams after snapping a four-game win streak to ASU.
 
The Texans would take a 16-5 lead with 11:40 left to play in the first half on a jumper from Coleman Furst (G, Jr, Denison), but Tarleton would go more than 11 minutes without a field goal which allowed the Rams to get back into the game.
 
Bryan Hammond's three-pointer with 2:24 left in the first half gave ASU its first lead, up 20-19. Following a Texan turnover on the ensuing possession, Antonio Dye poured in a runner with less than two minutes to make it a 22-19 game.
 
Davene Carter (F, So, Duncanville) finally stopped Tarleton's dry-spell with a wide-open-lane dunk. The two points came with just 37 seconds left in the half, giving Tarleton its first field goal in 11:03 seconds.
 
The Rams would make just one of two free throw attempts late in the half and took a 23-21 lead into the locker room at Stephens Arena.
 
The Texans shot 40.0 percent from the floor in the first half, but following the 11:40 mark Tarleton went 0-for-6 from the field and committed more than 10 turnovers. Poor shooting on the Rams part in the first 10 minutes of the first half limited ASU to just 30.0 percent from the floor.
 
Despite leading the league in free throw percentage, ASU shot just 64.3 percent from the charity stripe after going just 9-for-14 in the first 20 minutes of the game. Tarleton went 3-for-5 from the line in the first half.
 
Both teams would trade leads throughout the majority of the second half. Every time the Texans would retake a lead in the second half, ASU would always be right there to answer.
 
Neither team led by more than three points over the final 20 minutes of play. As soon as a team looked to make a run, the opposing team would counter and pull back within the deficit or just tie the game.
 
With less than four minutes to go, the Texans found themselves down 48-45, but De'Andre Upchurch (G, Jr, Flint, Mich.) nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 48-48. The Rams would counter though as Hammond hit a three-pointer of his own to put the home team back up 51-48.
 
Carter made the front end of a pair of free throw attempts, but managed to get the rebound on the final attempt and following a few passes he got the ball back and banked home a lay-up to tie the game at 51-51. He was fouled on the play but failed to convert the three-point play.
 
Hammond came right back and put in another two points for the Rams to make it a 53-51 game. Chuck Guy (G, Jr, Fort Worth) was fouled at the other end of the floor but he too made just one of two from the free throw line and Tarleton trailed by a point, 53-52.
 
ASU's Jovan Austin poured in a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left in the game and extended the Rams lead to 55-52. On the next possession, Tarleton committed its 19^th turnover of the game and was forced to foul the Rams.
 
Austin made both his free throws again and Tarleton's final three-point attempt fell short and the game came to an end at 57-52 in favor of the home team.
 
The Texans fall to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while ASU improved to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league action.
 
Tarleton shot 40.0 percent from the floor in the second half as well to finish shooting 40.0 percent on the night. The Texans went just 4-of-16 from three-point range though.
 
The Texans out-rebounded the Rams 40-32, but had 19 turnovers to ASU's seven.
 
The Texans return to action this Saturday, Dec. 8, as the team returns home to host Abilene Christian. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.