Cameron men face WT in LSC Tourney today

FRISCO, Texas—Cameron University’s men’s basketball team will launch its surprise bid for a Lone Star Conference Tournament title this evening at 6 p.m. against top-seeded West Texas A&M at the Comerica Arena.

The Aggies are definitely the surprise team in the field after being picked last in the pre-season poll of coaches and media members. That low ranking served as motivation for the Aggies who proudly wore warmup shirts with big bold letters that said “Overlooked” and as the season moved forward teams in the conference learned that CU Coach Kevin O’Connor had put together a strong lineup. O’Connors’s club had size, quickness and athletic ability and that group put together a 13-9 record in LSC games which was good for a share of seventh with Texas A&M-International. The Texas crew got the seventh seed due to a win over Cameron in the final weekend of the season.

West Texas comes in with a 20-2 record in LSC games including a pair of wins over the Aggies.

Cameron played the Buffs close in the Aggie Gym, losing by a 72-68 score in a game that the Aggies had their chances to win before the Buffs got the narrow win. The Buffs earned a 90-78 in Canyon but the Aggies have continued to improve with every outing and they enter with no pressure as the Buffs are the favorites.

The men’s schedule begins today at noon with Lubbock Christian facing St. Edwards and Dallas Baptist facing Texas A&M-International at 2:30 p.m. The Aggies and Buffs open the evening session at 6 p.m. and Eastern New Mexico battles Angelo State at 8:30 p.m.

The men’s semifinals are Saturday at Noon and 2:30 p.m. with the title game Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Aggies have been getting strong scoring from several players with Jaylan Thomas leading the way with 19 points per game. Lavell Brodnex is averaging 13.5 points per game and Daylon Andrews chips in 12.0 per game and Reggie Brudhomme also averages in double figures with 10.7 per game. Andre Washington just missed being a double-figure scorer with 9.5 per game.

The Aggies are ranked No. 6 in the LSC in scoring with an average of 79.9 points per game. On the defensive side the Aggies are well down the list in 12th, allowing 80.7 points per game. The CU men are sixth in rebounding and sixth in field goal shooting and and those two stats were critical in the season-ending victory over Midwestern that got the Aggies into the LSC Tournament.

The CU men were able to get some honors during Wednesday’s LSC Awards Banquet. Thomas was named on the All-LSC Second team and Brodnex earned a spot on the Third Team and Prudhomme was on the Honorable Mention list.

King earns honors

The CU women also got some recognition during the awards banquet with senior Katie King earning a spot on the All-LSC Second Team and she also was named one of five players on the All-LSC Defensive Team. The Harrah product has been the CU point guard for four seasons and will leave campus with her name high on several statistical columns.

Teammate Shamica Smith, a junior from Norman, was on the All-LSC Third Team and senior Korie Allensworth was on the Honorable Mention list.

One Southwest Oklahoma product, Brooklin Bain of Comanche, was on the All-LSC Second Team while playing her senior season at Oklahoma Christian.