LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Defending Class 4A state champion St. Pius Sartans had their hands full Thursday as they tangled with the Portales Rams in the first round of the Stu Clark Tournament. The Sartans prevailed in the end with a 53-46 win. The 1-4 Rams face the loser of a game between Robertson and Bernalillo in a 3 p.m. game today. Although St. Pius never trailed, the Sartans were unable to deliver the knockout blow until the final minutes. Portales cut the Sartans’ lead to four points with three minutes left in the game. A series of crucial turnovers that the Sartans quickly took advantage of turned the tide in the closing stretch, according to Ram coach Mark Gallegos. “That was one of our points of emphasis before the tournament,” Gallegos said. “We knew we had to limit turnovers because these teams would really take advantage of them.” Gallegos said turnovers coupled with poor free-throw shooting spelled the difference in the game. Portales junior guard Nick Bliss led the Ram effort with 12 points. Billy Good added eight points, Chris Mosier and Ky Mitchell each had seven, and Marcus Slocum scored six. The Rams finished with 24 turnovers and was 6-of-13 from the charity stripe created, including missing the front end of several one-and-ones down the stretch. Gallegos said both teams came out slow and the coach bemoans the fact that his team may have missed its opportunity early. “The worst part is we had some really good looks at the start of the game,” Gallegos said. “We could have been up six or eight points early.” St. Pius was led by Paul Jeffen with 16 points and Chris Johannson with 13. Gallegos said the reason his team goes to the Stu Clark is to get experience against good teams and he said Thursday’s game helped in that respect. “We’re getting better, we’ve grown a lot,” Gallegos said. ‘We’ve come a long way, really we have.”