GUNNISON, Colo. – A strong second half run by the Aggies paved the way for a 85-65 victory over Western State Colorado at the Comfort Inn Classic Saturday evening.
 
Despite trailing for the entire first half, the Aggies (2-2) put together a ten-point run in the second to take their first lead of the game at 45-38. Western State Colorado would get in a three-pointer, but Cameron would further its advantage by going on a 14-point run during a four minute Mountaineer scoring drought to lead 59-41.
 
The Aggies never looked back and improved their shooting to 64.7 % (22-34) from the field, making 3 of 5 treys to boast a 20 point win against the Mountaineers. Cameron Lee led CU with 19 points, and Deondre Ray was next with 12 points in addition to eight boards.

"After last night's loss we talked about it as a team and if we want to be a championship caliber team we have to play a full 40 minutes," said head coach Nate Gamet.   "I thought we played well in the first half defensively and got going on the offensive end in the second half.  We did good in transition and our bench really stepped in for us tonight."

Western State Colorado (1-3) held the lead for the entire first half with Cameron narrowing an eight point deficit to come within two points of the Mountaineers' lead four times before ending the half down 32-30.
 
The Aggies shot 39.3% (13-33) from the field over the Mountaineers' 34.3% (11-32) in the first half, but Western State Colorado had the edge from behind the arc, making five treys versus the Aggies' one.

Gamet continued, "We thought we had a deep team going into the season, and we had over half our points tonight come off the bench, which is good to see."

The Aggies had three individuals with three steals each in Tyler Williams, Tyus Momoh, and Jamaal Brantley. James Cross had a career night with ten points and nine rebounds, and Delvonte Pierre notched a career high nine points.
 
Cameron edged the Mountaineers in rebounds 41 to 36 and had 13 takeaways from Western State Colorado with which the Aggies scored 19 points off of. Cameron also scored 16 points off of fast breaks compared to WSC's two, and 49 of the Aggies' points were contributed from the bench.

The Mountaineers were led by Danny Hopkins who had 17 points, five rebounds, a block, and a steal. Ray Beresford was behind him, hitting all of his shots for nine points.

From the field, CU finished 52.2% (35-67) and WSC had 39.3% (22-56) on the floor.

Cameron will return to the court at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for their home opener against Dallas Christian in the Aggie Gym.