Markel Turrell & Jacob Jardel
Collegian Staff
Cameron basketball split a home doubleheader against Texas A&M-Commerce on Jan. 28 in the Aggie Gym.
The women’s team pulled out a two-point win against the Lions in the first half of the two-game set, while the men fell in the second half of the twinbill.
Women’s Game
The Aggie women’s basketball team made a key stop in the final seconds to edge out the Lions 96-94.
After trailing at the half, the teams went back and forth before CU broke a tie at 94 with a Jamie Bonnarens free throw with under a minute left.
Junior guard Natalie Hableib had a career night, leading Cameron with 26 points, 11 rebounds and six steals. Hableib said the whole team worked to help her achieve these numbers.
“My shot was working tonight,” she said, “and it felt really good. The team moved the ball really well tonight, and they knew I was hot tonight, [so] the team kept getting me the ball. “
Bonnarens tied a career high with a 22-point performance. Junior forward Savanna James and senior guard Charron Montgomery added 15 and 11 points, respectively, to the Aggies’ effort.
Cameron pulled ahead to an 8-4 lead to start the game. Despite a number of runs to pull close, they ended the first quarter behind 20-19. A back and forth second frame ended on a 10-4 Lions run to give them the lead 47-41.
Bonnarens and Hableib led the second-half charge, scoring 14 and 12 points, respectively, to keep the Aggies within reach. Cameron took their first lead of the second half 63-62 with under two minutes left in the third quarter.
The Black and Gold fell behind again in the fourth before a Parfitt McNair three broke 70-all tie. Two steals from Cristina Soriano and a Bonnarens three helped push the Aggies’ lead to 86-78, their largest on the night.
The Lions charged back, knotting up the score at 94 with just over 30 seconds to go. Bonnarens hit the go-ahead free throw with 18 seconds to go, and James’ block and free throw in the final 10 seconds sealed the victory of the Aggies.
The Cameron women’s team improved to 8-10 overall and 6-6 in the Lone Star Conference.
Men’s Game
Despite a pair of second half comebacks, the Aggie men came up short, falling 73-65 to Commerce.
The Black and Gold tied it at 63-all with 4:23 left on the clock after Delvonte Pierre hit his fourth three-pointer of the contest. Despite the Aggies’ effort, the Lions roared ahead to take their seventh conference victory.
Pierre led CU with 14 points from the field. Sophomore guard Tyus Momoh was the only other Aggie in double figures, notching 11 points on the day. Fellow sophomore JV Long led the team in both rebounds (9) and assists (7).
Momoh said that one aspect of the team’s play kept them from sealing the comeback.
“I felt that we were out of wack defensively,” he said. “I feel what separated this game was defense because we couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”
Cameron started off the game on a 5-2 run before Commerce pulled ahead by as much as 11 points in the first half.
But the Aggies made a late run to cut the lead to 35-29 heading into the locker room.
The Black and Gold built on that momentum in the second half, cutting an eight-point deficit to take their first lead of the half 49-47 with just over 10 minutes to play, but Commerce would regain the lead minutes later and hold onto it for the rest of the game, winning 75-63.
The Aggie men fall to 13-7 on the season, 6-5 in Lone Star play.
