Aggies end rigorous preseason schedule

TULSA, Okla. (Nov. 11) - The Cameron men's basketball team ended a grueling string of three exhibition contests against Division I opponents in a span of six days on Thursday, dropping an 82-49 decision to the University of Tulsa.

Cameron will open the 2004-05 regular season at home Monday, hosting Mid-America Christian in the annual Coaches vs. Cancer contest at Cameron's Aggie Gym. All gate proceeds from the event will benefit the American Cancer Society. Tickets are available for $5 in advance by calling the Cameron Athletic Department at (580) 581-2460. Tickets at the door will be $6. The game is not part of Cameron's season ticket package, in order to maximize the Aggies' support for the ACS and its worthy efforts.

Coach Garrette Mantle's squad, which also played preseason exhibition games against the University of North Texas and the University of Oklahoma earlier in the week, held an early lead against the Golden Hurricane.

Cameron jumped out to an 11-8 on a conventional three-point play by junior center Arthur Trousdell a little over four minutes into the game. But Tulsa answered with a 10-0 run over the next 2:56, as the Aggies missed four straight three-point attempts over that span to fall behind.

Back-to-back buckets by Trousdell kept the Aggies within three at the 11:52 mark of the opening period and Cameron trailed by just 10 at halftime, 38-28.

The second half proved to be a different story for the Aggies, however. Tulsa opened the frame with a 10-0 run before Kalaan Brown's three-pointer with 16:35 remaining cut the TU lead to 17 at 48-31. But after Anthony Price's three-point play with just under 15 minutes to play put the Golden Hurricane up by 22, Tulsa's lead never dipped below 21.

Trousdell finished with a team-high 13 points, giving the 6-8 transfer from Southwest Baptist a 17.7 scoring average in the three exhibition games. The New Zealand native also picked up a team-high eight rebounds in the game. Brown finished with eight points, while Bam Harmon and Marcus Girtmon added seven each.

The Aggies were out-rebounded 43-28 in the game and shot just 29.3 percent from the field.