Southwestern second half dooms Aggies

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LAWTON, Okla. (Jan. 20) -  Cameron trailed by just five at halftime, but saw Southwestern Oklahoma hit 69 percent from the field in the second half to rout the Aggies 73-50 in the Lone Star Conference North Division basketball opener for both teams Tuesday night at Aggie Gym.

The loss was the seventh straight for Coach Garrette Mantle's Aggies, who slipped to 5-11 overall and 0-1 in the LSC North. Southwestern improved to 12-4 and 1-0.

Cameron will look to end its losing skid in grand fashion on Thursday, when the Aggies travel to Stephenville, Texas, to take on top-ranked Tarleton State.

Mike Wallace was the only Cameron player in double-figures, scoring 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Marcus Girtmon added eight points and a game-high seven rebounds. Southwestern benefitted from 19 points each by Jamaal Shell and Lee Kirkpatrick.

Cameron got off to a good start Tuesday, gaining an early lead over the Bulldogs. Chad Caudill's three-pointer at the 12:41 mark of the first half put the Aggies up 16-8 and forced first-year Southwestern head coach Scott Reed to take a timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game and led 26-21 at intermission.

Trae Lister's jumper at the 15:47 mark of the second half kept Cameron within striking distance at 40-31. But Southwestern put together a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to take control of the game, leading by 16.

The Bulldogs were 20-of-29 from the field in the second half and outscored Cameron 36-10 in the paint for the game.