CANYON, Texas– The Cameron men's basketball team opened Lone Star Conference play with an 83-80 overtime win over West Texas A&M on Thursday evening.
 
Although the Aggies struggled offensively in the first half, the team found rhythm with four Aggies scoring in double figures on the night. Jamaal Brantley led CU with 25 points to tie his career high in addition to grabbing ten boards for a double-double. JV Long also had a career night, scoring 21 points. Cameron Lee had 15, while Deondre Ray scored 11 with nine rebounds in the Aggies' overtime victory.

Box Score (PDF)
 
"Anytime you can go get wins on the road, you take them," said head coach Nate Gamet. "That's why we played a really tough non-conference schedule; to prepare us for these games. The guys did a really good job battling and hanging in there when things didn't go our way to finish it out.
 
"In the first half we were getting great looks, but we missed quite a few shots around the rim, so we just had more patience, and we were getting a lot of things in transition. We remained patient to let lanes open so we could get to the basket instead of forcing stuff up, and it paid off for us."
 
Cameron relied upon the inside game, shooting 46% from the field while being held to one trey on the game for 48 points inside the paint. CU also shot 73% from the charity stripe, while West Texas A&M ended the night shooting 35.5% on the floor and 67% from the line with eight treys.
 
Gamet continued, "To score 83 points and hit only one three-pointer is pretty impressive. Our guys did a really good job of attacking the basket and finishing when they needed to. We also shot free throws really well tonight. We by far had our best free throw percentage this season."
 
The Aggies grabbed a two point lead early in the first half but cold shooting helped the Buffs to seven straight points to overtake CU. Cameron came within a point of WT's lead but a nearly four minute CU scoring drought allowed the Buffs to take another 7-0 run for a 18-10 advantage.
 
However, CU's Brantley dug in, scoring 16 points in the first half alone, helping to narrow the Buffs lead to two with five minutes remaining, but WT held strong to edge a 36-29 lead into the locker room paced by four treys versus the Aggies' zero. CU shot 33% from the field, while WT had 38% on the floor.
 
The Buffs forced a CU turnover to open the second half with which they used to hit a three-pointer for a ten point advantage. However, Cameron would improve its shooting to 57% in the second while holding WT to 32%, allowing the Aggies to seize the lead twice, holding the latter until the final four seconds when WT's David Chavlovich went 3-for-3 at the line after a foul on a half court shot attempt, sending the game into overtime with a 71-71 tie.
 
Overtime was highly contested with CU fending off four West Texas A&M ties. The game was knotted at 80, but with three seconds remaining, a Long layup gave the Aggies the advantage and sealing the deal with a good free throw for the 83-80 win.
 
Overall, the Buffs edged the Aggies in rebounding, 51 to 42, and forced one turnover above the Aggies at ten, exchanging them for 12 points versus CU's three with 38 of WT's points coming from the bench.
 
West Texas A&M (10-5) was led by Chavlovich who scored a game high 27 points and Ryan Quaid who grabbed 11 boards and 12 points for a double-double.
 
With the first conference victory, the Aggies improve to 8-5 overall and will continue league play on the road with a visit to Tarleton State on Saturday.