Cameron men upset No. 25 Rattlers in OT

SAN ANTONIO, TX —Miles Gurske hit a clutch 3-pointer and then Cameron hit seven straight free throws in overtime to stun No. 25-ranked St. Mary’s in a Lone Star Conference battle at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.

That stellar effort by the Cameron men capped a big day as the Aggie women had another strong effort in beating the Rattlers, 79-65, in the first game of the doubleheader. In that game it was Grace Alverson who had the hot hand with 23 points including hitting seven treys.

The men’s game left the home fans stunned as Cameron climbed 9-16 overall and 6-13 in the Lone Star. The Rattlers were 18-6 overall and 15-3 in conference after seeing the Aggies play well again.

Gurske finished with 20 points including 4-of-9 shooting from long range including the overtime trey that gave the Aggies a 72-69 lead with 1:51 left in overtime. St. Mary’s was able to convert a free throw to force another tie at 72-all with 54 seconds remaining.

From that point the Aggies did what they needed to do; make free throws. Lavell Brodnex hit a pair with 35 seconds and Gurske drilled two more with 15 seconds remaining to give the Aggies a four-point lead, 76-72. The hosts got a pair of their own free throws but with six seconds remaining Gurske hit the first of two free throws but missed the second.

Cameron opted to foul the Rattlers on the inbounds pass and Brodnex added two more free throws to arrange the final score.

Once again the Aggies had balanced scoring with Aaron Jacob added 17 points and 12 rebounds, Reggie Prudhomme chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds, plus he dished out six assists.

Brodnex scored just eight but his four free throws were huge.

Cameron trailed at halftime but rallied in the second half, shooting 45.2% from the field and 42.9% from three-point range to force overtime.

The Aggies will look to build on the momentum as they return home Thursday to face Western New Mexico University at 7:30 p.m. The women will battle it out at 5:30 p.m.

Jeff Mahoney’s CU women built a 16-point lead midway through the third quarter but the Rattlers cut the lead to a pair, 57-55, with 4:13 remaining in the game. The Aggies hit all four of their free throws to ice the win away.

The five starters for the Aggies scored all 68 points, led by Shamica Smith’s 24. She also tied for team-high honors, grabbing six boards and knotting Kennedy Cummings, who led the game with eight assists.

The Aggies outscored the Rattlers by one in the third period, 15-14 for the 53-43 lead. StMU scored seven of the first nine of the final stanza to cut the Aggie lead to five, 55-50 with 6:21 to go and trimmed it to a one-possession game on a Callens layup at 4:13.