SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Midwestern State is seeking a season sweep over Angelo State as it visits the Rams on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Junell Center.

Midwestern State (14-10, 8-10) is two games behind Texas A&M International for eighth place. The top eight teams qualify for the LSC Postseason Tournament. The Mustangs are a game behind both Oklahoma Christian and UT Permian Basin, which are tied for ninth place in the conference.

Midwestern State is coming off its fourth consecutive road loss as UTPB fended off the Mustangs on Thursday night in Odessa, Texas, 66-62. Junior forward Reggie Hill logged his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while junior guard Bakari LaStrap paced the Mustangs by scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Sophomore guard Mason Gibson chipped in 12 points, while Will Shepherd finished with nine poits and six rebounds.

The Mustangs won a double-overtime thriller against Angelo State last month at D. L. Ligon Coliseum. Pierre Sanders scored 29 of his game-high 31 points after halftime to lead MSU, which outrebounded the Rams, 51-39. Shepherd polished off his first double-double for the Maroon & Gold, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Hill also completed his first double-double of the campaign, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field including a season-high three 3-pointers.

Midwestern State is the sixth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 81.4 points per game, but the Mustangs are allowing opponents to score 76.8 points per contest, which is 10th in the LSC.

Gibson is the leading scorer for MSU and ninth in the conference with 16.1 points per game. The 6-0 sophomore guard from Allen, Texas, is 91 of 124 (.734) from the free-throw line and has accounted for the seventh-most points from the foul line in the LSC.

Sanders is the second-leading scorer for MSU with 13.8 points per game. The 5-10 senior guard from Hutto, Texas, is third in the conference with 4.4 assists per game and has the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.72, which is 21st-best in the nation. Sanders is one of 13 players in NCAA Division II to post a triple-double this season. In a 108-104 double overtime win against St. Mary's on Nov. 18, Sanders had 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.

LaStrap is averaging 11.6 points and 3.5 assists per game this season. The 6-1 junior from Houston has scored in double-figures 15 times this season, including eight of the last 10 games. He is averaging 14.2 points in his nine road appearances this season.

Shepherd is scoring 11.3 points per game for the Mustangs and is shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc this season (45 of 119). The 6-8 junior forward from Dallas, Texas, is shooting 42.5 percent from the floor (88 of 207) and 89.5 percent from the foul line (51 of 57). Shepherd has hit 31 of 32 free throws over his last 11 games. He is also 31 of 32 from the free-throw line on the road this season and has made 30 consecutive free throws as a visitor. His only miss on the road came in a 95-78 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Nov. 25, when he was 3 of 4 at the foul line.

Reggie Hill is the leading rebounder for MSU with 6.7 boards per game. The 6-8 junior forward from Melbourne, Florida, is averaging nine points per game and is shooting 48.6 percent from the field (69 of 142), including 34.4 percent from 3-point range (22 of 64).

Midwestern State leads the conference and is 22nd in the nation with 40 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are third in the league — 31st in the nation — with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game.

Duncan Alevok is the leading shot blocker in the LSC with 36 blocks this season, which is 39th in the nation, and MSU is blocking the second-most shots in the league with 4.5 per game. Alevok is responsible for 1.5 blocks per game.

The Mustangs are forcing the sixth-most turnovers in the LSC with 13.6 per game and eighth in the conference with 12.4 turnovers committed per game. The plus-1.2 turnover margin is eighth-best in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with the Rams, 50-36, but is 14-26 all-time when visiting Angelo State, which has won the last eight meetings in the Concho Valley. The Mustangs last win in San Angelo came in January of 2013, when MSU overcame a 13-point deficit to win 65-55.

Angelo State is scoring 80.7 points per game, and opponents are scoring 77.4 points against the Rams, who are 9-2 at home this season.

Keyshawn Embery-Simpson is the fourth-leading scorer in the LSC with 19.5 points per game and is shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point range (70 of 158), which leads the conference. Angelo State is second in the conference with 9.4 3-pointers per game.

Kevon Godwin is scoring 16.3 points per game, which is eighth in the LSC, and he is dishing out 3.8 assists per game, which is 10th-most in the league.

Willie Guy is ninth in the conference with 3.9 assists per game and is scoring 9.7 points per game. The Rams are third in the league with 15.3 assists per game.

Trey Farrer is the leading rebounder for Angelo State with 6.5 boards per game, and he is scoring 11.5 points per game for the Rams, who are 13th in the league with a minus-.04 rebounding margin.

Vinay Patel is in his 10th season as a head coach and this is his second season at Angelo State. Patel has a 42-15 (.737) record with the Rams and is 163-110 (.597) for his career, which included time with Northwestern Oklahoma State, West Texas A&M and Oklahoma City.

Justin Leslie is in his fifth season with Midwestern State and his 17th season as a head coach at the collegiate level. His career record is 327-190 (.632) and he is 61-69 (.469) at MSU. Leslie competed as a 6-8 center at Azusa Pacific from 1996-2001. He is one of just five players in Golden State Athletic Conference history to play on four conference championship teams.

Midwestern State begins its final homestand of the season against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

--MSUMustangs.com--