January 23, 2008

CU comes close, can’t finish out against ECU

LAWTON, Oklahoma (January 23) – Early on it looked as if Cameron was going to run away with the victory and rack up their third home win of the season tonight in Aggie Gym. Unfortunately, the tables turned and the Aggie men’s basketball team (2-15, 0-2 LSC-N) could not defeat the East Central University Tigers (10-7, 1-2 LSC-N). The game was scored 95-76. The Aggies were on top for nearly the entire first half, but could not hang on for the win.

“We played well for about 32 minutes, then just physically ran out of gas,” Head Coach Maurice Leitzke said. “We let the fatigue get to us mentally. We had some passes that turned into unforced turnovers, and we let them get back into it and take the momentum. We did have stretches where we played really well though.”

Cameron started the game on a very fast-paced run and led by as many as 9 points. East Central began to chip away at the lead and went into halftime with a 48-45 advantage. East Central took the lead with 1:52 left in the first half. Cameron regained the lead in the second half but was only able to hold it until there were just 11 minutes left in the game. The Tigers went on a 23-6 run to end the game.

In tonight’s game Cameron shot a solid 47.0% from the field, but was unable to match East Central’s 61.7% shooting. Cameron was able to record 5 fewer turnovers, ECU finished with 13 and Cameron finished with 8, but was out-rebounded 38-25. CU also took 6 more shots than ECU, but made 6 fewer.

“We are right there, and we have been right there numerous, numerous times,” Coach Leitzke said. “We need to close it out. When you look at all the hustle areas we won, but we need to win all of the others and get better at that.”

Junior forward Leslie Malone had a big game offensively, as he finished with a team and game-high 29 points on 13-23 shooting. He also contributed 2 steals, an assist, and a team-high in both rebounds, with 8, and blocks, with 2. Malone played in 34 minutes tonight.

Guards Dave Smith, a junior, and Greg Morgan, a sophomore, both finished the game with 10 points. Smith recorded his on 3-6 shooting while Morgan recorded his on 4-10 shooting. They were the only other players to finish the game with double-digit scoring numbers.

Morgan also recorded 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and a team-high 8 assists. He played in a team-high 40 minutes.

Smith ended up finishing with 3 assists, a block, and a steal in his 25 minutes off the bench.

“I don’t want to keep being redundant, but it is the same issues,” Coach Leitzke said. “We were right there. We had the lead, and we battled back and forth. ECU is a good, solid team. We need to eliminate the stretches where we go to sleep mentally and create unforced errors. We need to finish plays, “

The Aggie men’s basketball team goes on the road this weekend to take on the Northeastern State University Riverhawks on Saturday, January 26. The game will tip off at 4:00pm in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.