Box Score

ALLEN, Texas (March 2, 2012) — Despite Cameron’s best efforts for an encore of yesterday’s comeback against Incarnate Word, the Aggies fell Friday night to Midwestern State, 59-50. “We came out and executed our defensive game plan really well,” said Head Coach Wade Alexander. “It got away from us late a little bit. Offensively, we couldn’t get rhythm and get shots. Milton Garner only has four points. When you are counting on him for 19 points, there’s a difference.” Midwestern (23-4) jumped out early in the first half, keeping the Aggies (15-11, 11-9) off the scoreboard until the 14:25 mark when Vinicius Telo converted a free throw to make the score 9-1. The Aggies offensive woes continued, with the team finishing the half 7-20 (35%). CU outscored the Mustangs 8-2 in the paint, but was outscored 23-12 on second chance points and points off turnovers. In the second half, the Black and Gold began to find its groove offensively. Craig Foster turned it on in the second half, going 4-7 in the half, including two big threes. The Aggies comeback got within six at the 14:03 point, but Midwestern’s Keonte’ Logan drained a big 3-pointer to snuff out CU’s run. Cameron had its opportunities down the stretch, but 3’s by Telo, Foster and Desmond Henry were all off the mark.

“It’s like coach said, we just couldn’t make shots in the first half,” Foster said. “That was the difference.”

Cameron’s defense held a high scoring team to only 59 points, including a 26-4 edge in the paint.

“Defensively that’s our main goal, to hold people to a lower number,” he said. “If we could just score in the first half we could make something. We knew if we hold them under 70, it (winning) was a possibility. They defended us pretty well. They beat us on the glass and made us turn it over more than we usually do.

“If you told me they’d only score four points in the paint and we lose … I’d say you’re crazy. We defended and did everything we could … sometimes you can’t control when you make shots.” Despite bowing out in the semifinals, Cameron did something that no other CU team had done since the 92-93 tournament – win a game. “It definitely feels good,” said Thomas Razor, a Lawton-native. “It puts a smile on my face to be able to do something that hasn’t been done since I was still in the womb. It feels good to know that. But, I feel like we could have done more. We could have done more.”

To Coach Alexander, this year was a stepping stone to rebuilding the Cameron program. “You’ve got to take baby steps,” he said. “We’ve made the playoffs three out of four years now. These teams are establishing the Cameron program again. There’s only going to be one team or coach happy when they win that last game. As long as we remember the good things we’ve done this season like the first win in the conference tournament (in almost 20 years). Hopefully that’s something to build on for next year. These guys can explain to recruits how fun this is to be here. It’s great here in Allen. Get the atmosphere of an actual college tournament in a building that was made for such a thing.”

“We played hard … that’s all you can ask.”