Cameron 81, A&M-Commerce 58
Location: Aggie Gym * Lawton, Okla.
Records: A&M-Commerce (2-4, 0-2 LSC); Cameron (4-3, 1-1 LSC)
Up Next: at Incarnate Word * Wednesday, Dec. 7 * 8 p.m.
LAWTON, Okla. -- A late run by Cameron in the first half put A&M-Commerce behind by double-digits and the Lions could never recover, dropping an 81-58 decision against the Aggies Saturday evening. It was the Lions' largest margin of defeat this season as A&M-Commerce drops its second-straight Lone Star Conference decision, falling to 2-4 on the year and 0-2 in conference play.
Each of the Lions struggled to find their scoring as none scored in double figures on the evening. Devondrick Walker led A&M-Commerce in scoring with nine points while Preston Whitley added eight points and a team-best seven rebounds off the bench.
Brad Hambrick hit just one shot from the floor and added four free throws to finish with seven points with Mouhamadou N'doye and LaBree Sledge each posting six points a piece. Desmond King played just nine minutes for A&M-Commerce, finishing with four points.
Justin Fairman posted his first career start, finishing with five points while Andrew Davis and Quince Jackson II each joined King with four points on the afternoon.
After starting off slow in the previous few games, A&M-Commerce seemed to find its groove early against Cameron building a modest three-point lead early. Both the Lions and Aggies traded baskets as Cameron held a 15-14 advantage with just over 10 minutes to play in the opening half.
That was when the Aggies settled into their zone, rattling off the next seven points and 14 of the next 18 over the next five minutes to take a commanding 29-19 lead with five minutes left in the first. Cameron would extend that advantage to 14 at 36-22 before taking a 37-25 lead into the break.
A&M-Commerce had no answer for the Aggie duo of Vinicius Telo and Milton Garner in the opening 20 minutes as the duo combined for 28 of Cameron's 37 first half points, 17 of which came inside from Telo. The pair each had three rebounds for the Aggies in the first half.
The Lions had no answer for the Aggies in the second half either as Cameron continued to grow its lead, including using an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach, building a 68-40 lead with seven and a half minutes to play. The Aggies then were able to put the game on cruise control, handing the Lions the 23-point defeat.
Telo and Garner both continued to pace the Cameron attack, finishing with 25 and 23 points, respectively. They were the only two Aggies to break into double figures as Desmond Henry and Thomas Razor both finished with seven points on the afternoon as Cameron shot an even 50 percent from the floor, compared to 42.9 percent for A&M-Commerce.
The Aggies shot 52.6 percent from beyond the three-point arc, compared to just 33.3 percent for the Lions. Cameron also dominated A&M-Commerce in the paint, notching 32 points to the Lions' 18, while outscoring the Lions 18-6 in points off turnovers.
A&M-Commerce will look to end its two-game Lone Star Conference skid on Wednesday when it makes the trip to San Antonio for a meeting with Incarnate Word. Opening tip against the Cardinal is scheduled for 8 p.m. with live play-by-play coverage on KETR 88.9 FM. Lion fans can also listen online at KETR.org with live stats available at LionAthletics.com.
