Krista Pylant
Sports Editor
@KristaPylant8
The Cameron men’s basketball team nabbed a 7162 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State (SWOSU) in their home opener on Nov. 25 in the Aggie Gym.
While the Aggies scored a season low 71 points, CU still delivered the loss to the Bulldogs extending SWOSU’s skid to five straight losses and a 1-5 record.
The win brings Cameron to an even 3-3 overall mark.
Zach Dumas led Cameron with 18 points on a hot shooting night.
The 6-3 guard from Huffman, Texas went 4-5 from the field, 3-4 beyond the arc and 7-10 at the stripe.
Senior Bryce Elie also reached double digits in scoring with 15 points and matched junior Tyus Momoh for a team high eight rebounds.
For SWOSU, Charles Beauregard led the Bulldogs with 18 points.
Jerry Hurt and Nick Shoemaker joined him in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
SWOSU shot 37 percent (20-for-54) from the field as a team, while Cameron finished at 44.6 percent (25-for-56) overall.
The Bulldogs committed a season low five turnovers against the Aggies, while forcing 10 and converting them into 14 points.
Cameron won the rebounding battle 44-28 over SWOSU.
While the Aggie men bested the Bulldogs in shooting, Cameron head coach Andrew Brown said there is still room for improvement.
“Offensively, I thought we worked really hard to create shots for each other,” Brown said. “We just didn’t hit some of those shots.
“We are the kind of team that will make those shots as we get into the season.
We just didn’t shoot the ball well consistently tonight.”
Brown added he was most impressed with the Aggies’ defensive side of the ball.
“I thought our defensive effort was solid throughout the course of the whole game,” Brown said. “We handled all the situations they brought and made them hit tough shots.”
The game got off to a slow start as neither side reached double figures until six minutes in.
Play was still contested with nine lead changes in the first half with CU never letting the Bulldogs lead by more than four points.
Cameron trailed by one entering the final minute of the half.
However, Dumas broke for five points including a three-pointer with six seconds left to send CU to the locker room with a 34-30 advantage.
In the second half, the Aggies took advantage of a pair of Bulldog scoring droughts including one that lasted over four and a half minutes to take an 18-point lead, 65-47, down to seven minutes remaining.
SWOSU’s cold 34 percent from the field hurt them as the Aggies shot a steady 44 percent in both halves and four three-pointers allowing them to out-score the Bulldogs 37-32 in the final period for the 71-62 victory.
According to Brown, the Aggies’ second half surge was not without misses and brings CU another area to polish.
“We did get away in the second half, but we didn’t finish strong,” he said.
“Our struggle had to do more with not hitting shots than our effort.”
Cameron starts Lone Star Conference play on Nov. 30 as they host undefeated Texas A&M-Commerce to start a four game league stretch.
The Lions are first in the LSC in scoring defense and second in steals.
