LAWTON – The best was saved for last on the final home contest for the Aggies this season after shocking number-10 Angelo State 81-78 on Saturday night.
Both programs looked to be heading in different directions with ASU only dropping two games all season and the Aggies dropping six of their last seven.
"I thought they played great, this is probably the first full game we have put together in a while," said head coach Nate Gamet. "We are banged up and battered, but that just challenged the guys to come out and play and we were kind of backed up into a corner. We could either lay down and die or we can come out fighting."
"The guys did it for two halves. We had a few spurts where it was ugly and we had a chance to fold, but every time we challenged them tonight the guys responded."Desmond Henry gave the Ags a heroic effort with a game high 25 points and the runaway dunk in the final seconds to close out his time at the Aggie Gym. With at least two games remaining he still has an opportunity to make history and needs only four points to be CU's 17th 1,000 point scorer.
Jamaal Brantley had 21 points and seven rebounds, and
Deondre Ray added 18 for the Aggies.
"Des played great, I mean this is probably one of the best all-around games he had," added Gamet. "The last few games he has kind of come in to how good he is and what he can do for us."Efficient shooting kept the Aggies in the contest with 61.0 percent shooting on the floor and out-doing Angelo State who shot 47.5 percent.
Cameron had to rally from behind after opening tip and the Rams would lead the Aggies by seven (12-5) at the 12:56 marker. Despite the ASU early momentum, the Aggies turned the corner and 14 first half points from Brantley and 10 from Henry pulled the Aggies up by eight with just under two minutes left. Collectively, hot shooting across the CU lineup with 60.9 percent shooting was enough to give them a four point, 41-37 advantage at the intermission.
In the second half, the Aggies quickly lost their lead to the Rams they would hold on to a two possession lead until with four minutes remaining
DJ Jackson and Ray hit back-to-back three pointers to tie the game at 69. A pair of free throws by Henry followed to put the Aggies ahead 71-69 for the first time since the start of the half. From there Cameron carried the advantage and ASU was forced to extend the game by fouling.
With 18 seconds left following a pair of Ray free throws, ASU picked up a bucket to get within one (79-78) and called a timeout. The Aggies in their next possession a pass found Henry who broke away and dunked the ball with three seconds left to extend the lead. Angelo State attempted to toss up a three pointer which would miss giving the Aggies the win.
The win will send the Aggies to 12-13 overall and 4-9 in the LSC, Angelo State falls to 23-3 and 10-2 in league play.
Cameron will move back up to sixth place in the Lone Star Conference standings and more than likely they are locked into that spot for the upcoming postseason tournament. Cameron presently leads Texas A&M-Kingsville by a game in the standings and TAMUK will close out the regular season with Angelo State. Should a scenario play out where Cameron falls to Midwestern on Feb. 28 and Kingsville best Angelo State, the sixth seed will be decided by a coin toss.
