Rebounding woes sink Aggies at East Central

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ADA, Okla. (Jan. 20) - East Central used a whopping 56-29 rebounding advantage to post a 75-64 victory over the Cameron men's basketball team in the Lone Star Conference North Division opener for both teams Thursday night.

Cameron (12-4) outscored the Tigers 15-5 at the free throw line and forced 22 ECU turnovers in the game, but it wasn't enough to combat double-double efforts by two ECU players. Guard Terrell Carpenter posted a game-high 16 points to go with 10 rebounds, while Geno Odom came off the bench for the Tigers to rack up 12 points and a game-high 19 rebounds.

Coach Garrette Mantle's Aggies held a slim 7-6 lead on a layup by Mike Wallace early in the first half, but ECU quickly took the lead for good. The Tigers (10-6) scored the next nine points and stretched their lead to 18 (45-27) by halftime. East Central already owned a decisive 29-10 rebounding advantage by intermission, as well.

Cameron trailed by as many as 24 in the second half, as East Central continued to pound the boards. The Tigers collected 14 offensive rebounds in the second period and finished the game with 25, nearly equalling Cameron's rebounding total in the contest.

The Aggies made a brief comeback attempts late in the second half, scoring eight straight points to cut ECU's lead to 13 at 65-52 with just under six minutes to play. Eric Moore's free throws with 4:49 to play kept it at 13-point game, but the Aggies would get no closer until the final seconds of the game when Melvin Mitchell converted a traditional three-point play to forge the final score.

Cameron will look to pick up its first conference victory of the season on Saturday, hosting Southeastern Oklahoma State in a game expected to tipoff at 4 p.m., at Cameron's Aggie Gym. The Savages (12-4) posted their seventh stright win in an upset victory over 17th-ranked Southwestern Oklahoma State on Wednesday.