Aggie cagers race past Hardin-Simmons

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ABILENE, Texas (Nov. 20) - The Cameron men's basketball team shot 50 percent or better from the floor for the second consecutive day Saturday, blasting Hardin-Simmons 81-54, in second-day action at the Abilene Christian Tipoff Classic.

Cameron shot 58.2 percent in the game, including a blistering 62.1 percent effort in the first half, improving to 3-0 on the young season.

Senior forward Marcus Girtmon led the Aggie offensive attack again. The 6-5 Dallas native followed a 26-point effort in Friday night's win over Abilene Christian with a 17-point showing against the Cowboys Saturday afternoon. Girtmon hit 8-of-10 shot from the floor, improving his team-high field goal shooting percentage for the season to an impressive .742. Three other Aggies finished the game in double-figures, including 16 off the bench from Eric Moore and 15 from Kalaan Brown. Junior center Arthur Trousdell finished with 12.

Cameron also continued its dominance on the boards, outrebounding Hardin-Simmons 34-25 in the game. Through three contests, the Aggies are outrebounding foes by an average of 10.4 per game. Coach Garrette Mantle's squad also limited the Cowboys to a 35.2 shooting percentage for the game and held HSU to just 23 points in the first half.

Hardin-Simmons led just three times early in the contest, using a layup by Donald Rhode to take its final lead at 7-6 with just over 15 minutes to play in the opening period. Cameron answered with a 16-2 run, capped by back-to-back three pointers by Eric Moore and Arthur Trousdell.

The Cowboys climbed back into the game, scoring the next nine points to make it 22-18 Cameron with 8:20 to play in the half. But just as in Friday's win over ACU, Cameron launched a decisive run just before halftime to take control. Girtmon scored the last seven points of a 22-2 Aggie run, boosting Cameron's lead to 44-20 with a three-pointer near the two-minute mark in the half.

Cameron's lead dipped below 20 just once in the second half, when Rhode converted a pair of free throws to open the scoring in the final period. The Aggies led by 30 on two occasions late in the second half.

Next up for Cameron is a trip to Springfield, Mo., to participate in the annual Drury/Pizza Hut Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 26-27. The Aggies will face Evangel University on Friday at 6 p.m., before taking on host Drury on Saturday at 8 p.m. Next home action for Cameron is scheduled for Dec. 10, when the Aggies play host to Southwest Christian.