Krista Pylant
Sports Editor
@KristaPylant8
After a solid 3-0 start to the season, the CU men’s basketball team is now experiencing some road woes that began Nov. 25 with a 66-64 loss to Arkansas Tech University.
The close road struggles continued for the Cameron men in the Drury Classic Tournament held Nov. 28-29 in Springfield, Mo.
The Aggies fell short to the number four ranked Drury University 78-71 and the following day, lost a 96-95 heartbreaker in overtime to East Central University (ECU).
On the Dec. 1 episode of Game Time, senior guard Desmond Henry said that the three game losing streak was an eye opener and a humbling experience.
“It was a tough stretch,” Henry said. “I’m glad that our guys can learn something from it. Those teams that we played are all pretty good.
“It’s just that we couldn’t capitalize in the clutch, and turnovers and missed free throws can hurt us down the stretch. All we can do is learn from it and move forward.”
On Nov. 28, the Aggies went to work against the Drury Panthers who led a strong offensive attack in the first half of the game to lead 43-24.
The Black and Gold headed to the locker room trailing by 19 points at the half but managed to pull even with the Panthers; however, CU would later fall 78-71 for their second loss in a row.
Junior Jamaal Brantley led the Aggies in points, scoring 21 to pair with junior Deondre Ray’s 18 points of the night.
Next, CU took on ECU for another non-conference match-up on Nov. 29. At the half, the Aggies held a 52-48 advantage, but turnovers in the second half would cost Cameron with 14 committed that led to 13 points for East Central.
With 45 seconds remaining, Cameron led by seven points following a layup by CU’s Tank Mayberry to give the Black and Gold an 85-78 lead. However, ECU responded by scoring six unanswered points to trail CU by one with 12 seconds remaining.
Bruce Barron put up a point for the Aggies from the line, but a turnover and Aggie fouls allowed a pair of ECU free throws to take the game to overtime.
The Aggies fell short to the Tigers in overtime to fall by one for the loss.
The Cameron men will return to action against Oklahoma Christian University at 3 p.m. on Dec. 6 in Oklahoma City.