LAWTON, Okla. – When it works, it works, and it was certainly working tonight as the Cameron Aggies (12-8, 2-3 LSC North) turned a 43-13 halftime lead into a 80-51 thumping of Lone Star Conference North Division rival Texas A&M-Commerce (13-6, 3-2 LSC North) inside Aggie Gym on Saturday night.

Junior Milton Garner led the Aggies in scoring with 18 points including 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Freshman Jonathan Patino, a new face to Head Coach Wade Alexander’s starting lineup, played 37 minutes tonight, his longest by far this season, and added eight points.

“Johnny has been working hard and we needed a role player in the game as well as someone who could come off the bench to give us a spark,” said Alexander.  “We had to move (senior guard Dylan Gilliam) to the bench and it worked well.  (Patino) made some tough shots and was a workhorse out there for us.”

Sophomore forward Vinicius Telo continued his string of impressive scoring outburst with a 17 point game tonight. The Sao Paulo, Brazil native has posted double figure in his previous five games.

Early on, it seemed like nothing could slow down the Aggies who held the Lions scoreless for the first 4:14 minutes of the game. Commerce got on the board with a layup by Desmond King at 15:46 to bring the game to 10-2.

The Aggies did not let up, running out to a 38-9 lead with 3:24 remaining on the back of a Garner trey. Garner added three more before halftime as the Aggies took their 30-point lead into the locker room.

Alexander’s squad never left the driver’s seat as the visiting squad was able to bring the margin down to just 26 as they scored the first four points of the second half.

The game also got chippy at times as the visitors were called for a total of three technical fouls throughout the game.  It did not hurt the Aggies’ rhythm as they connected of 27-of-53 (50.9 percent) from the field including 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from behind the arc.

Commerce was unable to find any success from long range, going 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from the three point range and were 19-of-52 (36.5 percent) from the field.

For Alexander, he says credit goes to his coaching staff for the team’s preparation.

“(Assistant Coach Nate) Gamet did a great job scouting them this week,” he said. “We had a great game plan and our guys recognized their key plays very quickly. We had great reaction to what they were doing and were able to hit shots of our own when it mattered.”

The victory over Commerce sets up a critical pair of games with LSC North rival Southwestern Oklahoma this week.

“The next pair of games could determine whether or not we make the playoffs. Because of our rankings, our players will need to come out extremely focused and ready to play.”

The Aggies will to Weatherford, Okla. , to take on Southwestern on Wednesday, February 2. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m.