February 20, 2008
Aggies closer to postseason with win
DURANT, Oklahoma (February 20) – Still needing to record a few more victories in order to clinch a berth in the Lone Star Conference Championship tournament, the Aggie men’s basketball team (5-19, 3-6 LSC-North) tonight took to the road to battle the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm (3-21, 0-9 LSC-North). Cameron’s postseason hopes are still alive after the Aggies put away the Storm, 73-72. The game was very intense and gave CU the season sweep of SOSU.
“I thought we played very solidly tonight,” Head Coach Maurice Leitzke said. “We only had ten turnovers which was outstanding, and then we led in nearly every other statistical category. We have played very well the last few games. We got some breaks tonight too and that really, really helped us.”
With the victory tonight Cameron is only two games out of the final playoff spot. There are only three games left on the season schedule.
The two squads battled for the entire game. The Savage Storm took a 37-34 lead into halftime, but the Aggies responded with an 11-4 run to start the second half. CU outscored SOSU in the second half 39-35. Southeastern led for nearly the entire game, with Cameron taking slight leads every few minutes. The Aggies took the lead for the final time with 1:06 left in the game.
Four Aggies put up double-digit scoring numbers tonight. As mentioned previously, Cameron led Southeastern in nearly every category in the game. CU took 68 shots while SOSU took 58, and the Aggies out-rebounded the Storm 43-38. Cameron also turned the ball over only 10 times to Southeastern’s 13 turnovers.
“It’s really important to win when you’re in divisional play,” Coach Leitzke said. “This was a big win for us. We had to fight for all forty minutes. Southeastern (Oklahoma State) had been playing very well lately. They are playing very good basketball and we are very happy to get a win on the road at SOSU.”
Junior forward Leslie Malone had a huge game for the Aggies, recording yet another double-double. He finished the contest with a game-high 22 points on 8-18 shooting and 17 rebounds. Malone also recorded 4 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal in 36 minutes of play.
“Leslie (Malone) had a great game,” Coach Leitzke said. “He had a huge block late in the game and overall played outstanding tonight. He wanted it from the very beginning of the game and he refused to let us lose tonight. All of our kids in general refused to let us lose the game.”
Junior forward Chad Allan also had a solid game as he narrowly missed out on a double-double of his own. Allan finished the game with 12 points on 5-10 shooting. He also recorded 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in a team-high 37 minutes.
Sophomore guard Greg Morgan put up 10 points on 4-12 shooting to go along with a team-high 5 assists. He also recorded 3 rebounds and a game-high 5 steals in a team-high 37 minutes.
Junior guard Dave Smith was the fourth and final Aggie to score in double-digits tonight. He recorded 14 points on 5-13 shooting, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal in 32 minutes on the court.
“Our kids are playing really well now,” Coach Leitzke said. “They closed this game out and I’m very proud of them.”
Cameron has only three games left in the 2007-2008 season. The team next hosts the Northeastern State University RiverHawks this weekend. The teams tip off at 4:00pm this Saturday as part of Cameron’s Alumni/Parents/Homecoming/Hall of Fame weekend.
There are just two home games remaining on Cameron’s home schedule. CU’s home game versus Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, March 1, is their final home regular season game of the season.