Krista Pylant
Sports Editor
@KristaPylant8
The Cameron men’s basketball team upset Midwestern State 87-84 in its opening game of the Lone Star Conference Tournament on March 5, but fell to Angelo State 76-53 the following day in the LSC semifinal in Allen, Texas.
After falling to Midwestern twice during the regular season, the Aggies triumphed in overtime to stun the Mustangs and advance to the tournament’s semi-final bracket.
Cameron head coach Nate Gamet said successful baskets are what made the difference in the post season win against MSU.
“At their place we started off 0-10,” Gamet said. “We’re getting really good looks, getting looks in the paint and wide open shots, and they didn’t fall. It just got discouraging. The second half, what we talked to our guys about was stay the course. We’re going to find something that works, and once we do, let’s execute it.
“I think that was the biggest part of the second half last week was to see some things we executed really well and see how they guarded it. [We] made some really good adjustments to how they guarded it so we could carry it over into today.”
The Aggies trailed the Mustangs the entire game until the last two minutes of the second half when CU’s Jamaal Brantley hit a jumper from the paint and drew the foul. The extra point brought the first tie of the game, 68-68.
MSU pulled ahead by two, but the Aggies responded with a successful jump shot from Cameron Lee with 9 seconds remaining on the clock to send the game into overtime.
Overtime saw the Aggies lead for the first time after Lee drained a three to pull Cameron ahead 75-73. Both teams traded points, but a couple of free throws from Brantley sealed the Aggie’s win, 87-84.
The following day on March 6, the Black and Gold’s season came to an end after a pair of second half runs by Angelo State caused Cameron to fall 76-53 in the LSC semifinals.
Gamet said Angelo State’s defensive pressure gave the Aggies opportunities to attack the basket, but Cameron could not capitalize.
“I thought we did a really good job of handling the pressure,” Gamet said. “We just weren’t able to convert and knock those down. If we would have done it like we did the first half, then they probably would have had to help off of our shooters a bit more and given us a few more clean looks. They just made some really good adjustments that affected us in the second half.”
Cameron opened the game with a 10-4 advantage, but a four minute scoring drought allowed ASU to tie the game at ten each with 12:47 left in the first half. The Ram’s continued to pull ahead until CU point guard DJ Jackson drained back-to-back three-pointer to narrow ASU’s lead.
A good tip-in from Brantley and another three-point shot from Deondre Ray narrowed the score 26-26. ASU responded, but two jumpers from Brantley and Tank Mayberry tied the game at 30 going into the half.
Cameron got a good jump to the second half but incurred a five minute scoring drought that allowed Angelo State to go on an 8-0 run. Cameron tried to close the gap but could not hold on the remainder of the game, losing 76-53.
Both Deondre Ray and Jamaal Brantley led the Aggies with 13 points; the team wrapped up the day shooting 39.2 percent from the field.
The Aggies ended their season with a 13-15 overall record.