During the winter break, the men’s basketball team got off to a slow start in conference play. They headed into Tuesday night’s action against Angelo State with a 1-7 record in conference play.

However, the Wildcats looked nothing like a struggling team against the Rams, finishing up the first half of conference play with a dominating victory in Moody Coliseum 79-64.

“This game really built some chemistry.” Junior Armani Williams said. “Our defense is getting better and we are gelling more on the offensive end.”

Armani was a major reason the ‘Cats played so well, finishing with 22 points, and went a perfect ten for ten from the charity stripe.

Zach Williams chipped in 11, and Eric Milam dominated the paint, scoring 14 points in just 11 minutes of action.

“I just wanted to come in the game and be aggressive,” Milam said. “I wasn’t really focused on anything except defense, but offense came easy for me tonight.”

The Rams were frustrated early and often in this contest, turning the ball over nineteen times. Their tempers finally boiled over when a player was ejected for multiple technical fouls after committing a foul on the defensive end.

Although the final score showed a fifteen-point victory for the ‘Cats, the game was never that close.  ACU went into the half with a double-digit lead, and did not look back.

“We are looking to build some momentum off of this win.” Head Coach Joe Golding said. “We finally got everybody back, and we put together a good road win at A&M Commerce, and played well in Tarleton as well.”

The Wildcats notched their first home win in conference play against the Rams to welcome students back, and the team could feel the buzz in Moody as they took the courts in front of a home crowd for the first time in nearly a month.

“You could see the smiles on our guys faces when they came out two or three minutes before the game,” Golding said. “It’s been a little dead around here with all of the students gone. We had good support earlier in the year and so it is great to see them come out and continue to support us.”

The Wildcats will play the second half of their home-and-home against Angelo State on the road Saturday night. They have chance to climb back to .500 on the season and win consecutive games in the LSC for the first time all year.

“It is going to be a tough battle down there in San Angelo.” Golding said. “They will come out ready to play, and it is always difficult to play a rival like Angelo twice in one week. It is a good chance to see if we can go out and win one on the road.”