LAWTON – The reloaded Cameron men's basketball team looks for a bounce-back season as they open the 2021-22 slate against Colorado State-Pueblo and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. 
 
The Aggies return two of their top scorers from last season and have added a lot of talent via the transfer route, looking to get back in the postseason in the sixth year under head coach Andrew Brown. Their first test is against a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes. 

STARTING 5
1. Cameron missed the postseason for the second straight year last season with a 2-15 record, but the Aggies return three of their top-4 scorers and have added a talented signing class that includes a Division I transfer and four newcomers with Division II experience. 
2. The seventh leading scorer in the Lone Star Conference last season and an All-LSC honorable mention selection, Brock Schreiner, is primed for another big year after averaging 17.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 85 percent from the free throw line and 37 percent from three. 
3. Marques Warrior Jr. and Schreiner lead a talented group of guards for the Aggies that includes transfers Deondre Early, Shem'mario Stephens, and Colt Savage among others that could push the tempo for head coach Andrew Brown in his sixth season as the head man at CU. 
4. Colorado State-Pueblo's record from last season was almost identical to the Aggies (3-15), but they return just two of their top four scorers from 2020-21 in Lian Ramiro (12.6 ppg) and Tristan Hurdle (9.4 ppg).
5. After a shortened 2020-21 season where they went 7-9, UC-Colorado Springs was picked to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with first team All-RMAC selection Alijah Comithier (19.1 ppg) and West Texas A&M transfer Jon'il Fugett (12.9 ppg) leading the way offensively.

ABOUT THE AGGIES
After missing the conference postseason for the second straight year, Brown brought back just six players from last year's team and brought in eight new additions. Of those returners, CU gets back leading scorer Brock Schreiner, who averaged 17.2 points per game on his way to an honorable mention All-LSC nod. His back-court mate and talented freshman Marques Warrior Jr. also returns after averaging 10.0 points, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals his first year on campus. 

Connor Slater is the top returning forward, averaging 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 48 percent from the floor his second year on campus. He and Nikolaos Argyropoulos provided the experience up front while Darius Green and Jalen Mangum provide Brown with more experience in the backcourt. 
 
Cameron's recruiting class is highlighted by in-state transfers Shem'mario Stephens and Colt Savage. Stephens played one season at OC after spending time at Murray State College. The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds for the Eagles in 2020-21. Savage was a mid-year transfer last spring but will make his game debut for CU this fall. A Sand Springs, Okla. native, Savage averaged 6.1 points and 5.6 points in his two full seasons at Central Oklahoma. 

Kenyon Holcombe, a 6-foot-8 forward, and Deondre Earley, a 6-foor-3 guard, were also big additions from the transfer ranks with Jaylen Swift and Alex Gonzalez both joining the new Aggies with college experience list. Brown also has a pair of talented true freshman in John Muhammad and Joshua Fanuiel. 

SCOUTING THE THUNDERWOLVES
Colorado State-Pueblo posted a 3-15 record last season playing an all RMAC schedule. They lost their last night games, mostly because of poor defense that gave up 83.8 points and a .526 shooting percentage a year ago. The T-Wolves do a good job of trying to stay with their opposition, scoring 75.9 points per outing and shooting over 47 percent from the field. 

With their top two scorers from last season gone, CSU-P's top returner is Lian Ramiro, who averaged 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists for his squad. Tristan Hurdle dropped 9.4 points per outing during his first year on campus in Pueblo. The team has eight freshman listed on their roster. 

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN LIONS
UC-Colorado Springs is coming off a 7-9 season where they gave up less than one point than the scored (75.1). They also shot around 44 percent from the field while making 8.1 triples per outing and allowed opponents to shoot over 48 percent from the floor. UCCS controlled the glass in their games, grabbing 6.6 more rebounds than their opposition on average. 

Comithier provided 19.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game for the Mountain Lions a season ago, while Cameron Underwoord averaged 9.6 points and 3.3 rebounds for the squad from Colorado Springs. Fugit provides another scoring threat that has proven to be able to play against LSC defenses. 

WHO HAS NEXT
Cameron's next test is a quick trip up north to face Southwestern Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Nov. 17, before returning to the Aggie Gym on Saturday, Nov. 20, to host Newman.