WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State faced a mountain of opposition with Angelo State's sizable inside presence Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
Fortunately for Jermane Carter, he has a very tall coach. And that made all the difference in the world as the 6-7, 190-pound forward from Mount Laurel, N.J. delivered a monster performance setting career highs with 25 points and 14 rebounds leading the Mustangs to a huge 84-75 Lone Star Conference West Division win over Angelo State.
 
"I've been trying to simulate the defense he's going to face," said coach Justin Leslie, who stands in at 6-8 and had an accomplished collegiate career at Azusa Pacific. "I've been trying to get him to have the belief. He has an amazing soft touch. I was his dummy all week and was his punching bag trying to get him the confidence."
 
Carter's confidence soared going 9-of-11 from the field and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. His effort helped the Mustangs land 44 points in the paint against the bigger Rams.
 
"It was pretty crazy," Carter said. "They have a lot of bigger guys, but we got them in foul trouble. We talked all week of how we needed to get inside to kick it out or elevate over them. That's how I was able get a lot of my points."
 
The Mustangs landed body punches early posting up Carter along with freshman guard Rommell Williams (12 points on 4-of-5 shooting) and an occasional dip into the paint by junior sharpshooter Luke Hamilton.
 
"We had to find a way to attack the paint as a collective," Leslie said. "But it was Jermane's performance that took our breath away."
 
Hamilton also found the range from deep hitting four triples on his way to 14 points, while freshman guard Pierre Sanders chipped in 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
 
The Mustangs scored the final seven points of the contest to clinch the win on the strength of an elite night at the charity stripe connecting on 22-of-24 as a team.
 
Junior guard Devaughn Thomas paced Angelo State with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting as the Rams fell to 5-9.
 
Midwestern State (9-7) closes the regular season with a home-and-home LSC West Division series against UT Permian Basin. The teams square off Thursday in Wichita Falls before heading to Odessa on Saturday.