Cameron vs. Oklahoma Panhandle | Nov. 8 at 6 pm
Texas A&M Commerce vs. UT-Permian Basin | Nov. 8 at 8 pm
Cameron vs. UT-Permian Basin | Nov. 9 at 6 pm
Texas A&M Commerce vs. Oklahoma Panhandle | Nov. 9 at 8 pm
Region Classic Home Page | Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video
First Tip: The Cameron men's basketball team will open their 2013-14 season at home hosting the Region Classic at the Aggie Gym against Oklahoma Panhandle and UT-Permian Basin; both teams are members of the Heartland Conference.
Texas A&M Commerce will be the other school in attendance playing the 8 pm game against UT-Permian Basin on Friday and Oklahoma Panhandle on Saturday.
Overall Cameron has handled their season openers with success holding a 33-12 record; they have also won their last five openers in a row.
About Oklahoma Panhandle: The Aggies from Oklahoma Panhandle state are coming off a season in which they went 5-23 with a 1-13 Heartland Conference record. They finished last in the conference standings and were picked last in the preseason poll for this upcoming season. In the overall series between the two Aggie teams, Cameron is ahead 22-9. The last meeting between OPSU and Cameron was on Nov. 20 of last year, when the CU Aggies won 94-75. Cameron was led by Asaad Robinson who had 15 points and seven boards, Craig Foster, who had a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, and Kimric Dixon, who added 12 points on 4-7 from behind the arc.
The OPSU Aggies were outscored by their opponents 79.6 to 69.5 while shooting .418 from the field in the 2012-13 season. They had a decent mark from the three point line with a .330 percentage, and hit 70% of their freebies. In the rebounding department, OPSU got outrebounded 30.6-40.5 last season. As a team, Panhandle averaged 12.9 assists and 15.9 turnovers per game, but had a turnover margin of +1 over their opponents. On defense, the Aggies averaged 6.9 steals and 2.3 blocks per game.
Oklahoma Panhandle returns their leading scorer in Krys Randolph, who averaged 11 points per game with .357 field goal percentage, a .365 three point percentage, and a .870 free throw percentage. They also get back their leading rebounder in Bill Lee, who averaged 6.3 boards and 9.8 points per game. Additionally, Tavien Rosemond is back to supply some low post defense after leading the team with 1.3 blocks per game last season.
About UT-Permian Basin: The Falcons are coming off of a season where they went 10-15 overall and 5-9 in conference play. They were recently picked 7th in the Heartland Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. UTPB played in an exhibition game against Texas A&M Nov. 2 where the Aggies came out on top 80-70.
Andy Newman is in his first year as the Falcons' head coach. Newman spent the last 10 years at Cal State-Fullerton, helping his team lead the Big West Conference in scoring eight of the ten years he was there. He served as assistant coach for nine years before being named interim head coach last season.
Key returners for the Falcons are Madison Turner and Anthony Dees. Both played in every game for UT-Permian Basin last season. Turner averaged 9.8 ppg last season, while Dees averaged 9.5 ppg and had a game high 18 points against Texas A&M last weekend.
Last season: Cameron finished with a 18-9 record with a 13-5 conference record. The Aggies' conference record was their best in program history and finished second in the LSC; also a program high. A strong season for CU was rewarded with a bid into the NCAA National Tournament for the first time in program history.
Preseason Player of the Year: Senior Guard Craig Foster was selected by the Division II Men's Basketball Bulletin as the publication's Preseason Player of the Year. Foster led CU with 16.3 points per game and 5.9 assists per game. He is the first Aggie player to be picked for this honor in program history.
Back-to-back: Cameron is the recipient of having the Lone Star Conference's top individual player for the past two season. After the 2011-12 season Milton Garner took the leagues top honor, and last season Craig Foster took home the player of the year honor. Both players were also named All-American's by the NABC.
New faces: Cameron will enter the 2013-14 season with six new faces on their squad. Three of CU's incoming players have prior Division I experience: Will Cook (Samford), Charles Joy (SIU-Edwardsville), and Tank Mayberry (UT-San Antonio). The other four players: Cedric Pickett, Desmond Buerge, and Sean McGary were all Junior College standouts.
Home Sweet Home: The Aggies were a perfect 12-0 at the Aggie Gym, and have a home win streak of 14 games dating back to the 2011-12 season against Tarleton State.
New Staff: The Aggies will enter the 2013-14 season under new leadership, as former assistant coach Nate Gamet will begin his tenure at Cameron with his first full year of coaching. He has brought in an assistant coach in Drew Richards, who comes to CU from Missouri State University-West Plains where he helped guide the Grizzlies to two 21-10 records. Gamet has also added Graduate Assistant Noah Greenberg, who spent 2007-10 as the head student coach for the Colorado State University men's basketball program.
Preseason Poll: Cameron was selected No. 3 in the Lone Star Conference preseason with 124 points and a pair of first place votes. Tarleton State was favored in this year's poll by three points with nine first place votes, while Midwestern Sate collected 12 first place votes and 163 points. West Texas A&M was picked fourth (118), and Texas A&M- Kingsville fifth (82). Eastern New Mexico (63), Angelo State (59), and Texas A&M-Commerce (53) rounded out the poll.
Coming Up: The Aggie men will have a quick turnaround traveling in-state on Nov. 13 to Northwestern Oklahoma State; this will be the first match up with the Rangers since the 1986-87 season.
