Cameron Rallies To Stun MSU in Overtime, 87-84 - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content
Vladimir Cherry

Men's Basketball By Nick Eatman

Cameron Rallies To Stun MSU in Overtime, 87-84

Trailing by as much as 13 in the second half, Cameron used some clutch shooting to force overtime and then eventually knock off No. 3 seeded Midwestern State, 87-84, at the Lone Star Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at the Allen Event Center.

      The sixth-seeded Aggies keep their season alive, improving to 13-14 and will advance to Friday’s semifinal round against Angelo State, whose three conference losses included one to Cameron.

      Against the Mustangs, Cameron Lee hit six 3-pointers, but a pull-up baseline jumper in the final seconds sent the game to overtime, where the game went back and forth with the Aggies leading by four before MSU guard Bretson McNeal scored five straight to give MSU a one-point lead with 48 seconds to play.

      But Cameron got two cracks for the lead and converted the second when Deondre Ray drilled a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left. An MSU turnover gave the ball back to the Aggies, who hit enough free throws to preserve the win.

      Lee led the scoring for Cameron with 23 points, while Jamaal Brantley scored 22 with 11 rebounds. Ray had 17 and Tank Mayberry had 10 points and nine rebounds, including the most important board, which led Ray’s go-ahead shot.

      For the Mustangs, Khapri Alston came off the bench to score 19 points with seven rebounds. McNeal had 17 points, while Thad Rideau had 12 and Xavier Blackburn scored 11 with a team-high eight rebounds.

      In the first half, MSU came out hot, hitting four 3-pointers before the first media timeout, including two by McNeal. The Mustangs led by 10 at the half and extended the lead to 13 early in the second half, but shot just 31 percent in the last 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Aggies made 50 percent of their shots.

      The Mustangs had advanced to three straight LSC Championship finals and haven’t been eliminated in the first round of this tournament since 2004.

      MSU drops to 21-8 this season and will wait to see its postseason fate for next week’s regional tournament. The Mustangs were fifth in the latest South Central Region rankings.

      For the Aggies, winning the LSC Championship would be their only chance of extending their season past this weekend.

Midwestern State Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2MNIOa5dck



Cameron University MBB Notes
  • Cameron trailed by as much as 13 in the second half and cut its deficit to one with 3:11 remaining in the game after a 7-0 run.
  • Aggies took lead for first time with 2:51 remaining in overtime
  • Jamal Brantley’s three-point play with 2:18 left to play tied the game at 68 and forced an MSU timeout.
  • Cameron Lee drained six triples and finished with a game-high 23 points.
  • His jumper with nine seconds remaining tied the game at 70.
  • His sixth three-pointer of the game at the 2:51 mark in overtime gave the Aggies their first lead (75-73) of the game.
  • Brantley posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
  • Desmond Henry reached the 1,000 point plateau becoming the 17th player in Aggie history to do that.
  • The Aggies are 4-9 all-time in LSC Tournament games.
Midwestern State Notes
  • Midwestern State was eliminated in the LSC Championships quarterfinals for first time since a 93-87 quarterfinal loss to Tarleton State in the 2004 tournament… MSU is now 11-4 all-time in the quarterfinal round and had an eight-game winning streak in the round snapped
  • MSU is the first higher seed to be knocked out of this year's tournament
  • The Mustangs led the game for 40:15 and never trailed in regulation and had a five-game winning streak over Cameron snapped… MSU had swept the regular-season series over Cameron
  • MSU is now 45-24 all-time against the Aggies after the quarterfinal loss and are 25-9 all-time in the LSC tournament
  • The Mustangs, who led 39-29 at halftime, had four players in double digits with Khapri Alston leading the team with 19 points and Bretson McNeal adding 17 points… MSU was held to 38.9 percent shooting, while the Aggies shot 51.8 percent
  • MSU finished the game with a 46-36 rebounding advantage with Alston leading the way with seven rebounds
  • The Mustangs are now 2-1 in overtime games this season after falling to the Aggies… MSU came into the tournament having a 90-83 double-overtime win over Lynn and an 85-83 overtime victory over Commerce on its resume