LAWTON, Okla. -- Just when Midwestern State's confidence waned Saturday afternoon at Aggie Gym the Mustangs got a lift when they needed it the most.
 
Sophomore forward Jalin Brown made his return from injury to follow his own missed free throw with a put back, then had a block at the rim in the closing minute to help MSU stave off Cameron and snap a four-game slide, 80-76.
 
"I knew I had to bring the energy," Brown said. "Today, I guess, I wasn't injured anymore. I came back ready to play. We started to lose momentum, but I knew we had to stay locked in. I'm not going to lie, that was a big time block."
 
Midwestern State snapped a four-game slide to improve to 3-13 overall and 3-7 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Cameron made a push after falling behind by 25 points at 58-33 after Darius Thompson nailed a 3-pointer with 16:40 to play.
 
From that point on, the Aggies aggressively trapped the Mustangs and deployed a zone defense to frustrate MSU into 17 turnovers in the second half.
 
In fact, it was a two-point game at 76-74 when Brown stepped to the charity stripe with 1:20 to play. He made the first before Thompson kept the rebound in play on his misfire of the second free throw.
 
Brown corralled the ball and went up strong to convert the layup to push the Mustangs lead to 79-74 with 1:12 to go.
 
Brown preserved MSU's slim lead with a block of Kendall Scott at the rim with 10 seconds to go. Trae Jones grabbed the rebound and made one of two free throws to seal the win.
 
"It was kind of ironic. Those were some of the one they blocked on us late," Leslie said. "He made a great rotation over and anticipated where it was going to be to make that block."
 
Jones, a sophomore guard from Wichita Falls, knocked down a career-best six 3-pointers for another collegiate-high of 19 points, while filling out the stat sheet with six rebounds.
 
"Trae has been putting in the work. I have all of the confidence in the world in him. I was proud that he was able to go out and play a game like this in a great environment," Leslie said. "His teammates were seeking him out and he has earned every bit of this."
 
Jones connected on five of his six triples in the first half as Midwestern State pushed its halftime edge out to 46-28 by making nine 3-pointers as a team.
 
"In the first half, they weren't prepared for that," Leslie said. "They went in and made changes. We knew they could come out and trap and play some zone. We came out surprised and didn't handle it well. We knew they would make a run in a rivalry game, but we need to find a way to weather the storm better in the future."
 
The game was played in front of a raucous crowd of 1,269 fans including 600 U.S. Army trainees.
 
"It was exciting to play around this many people. This was a first for me to play in front of the soldiers," Brown said. "It meant a lot to me so show what I can do."
 
Midwestern State hits the road to face Oklahoma Christian Thursday night in Oklahoma City. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
Cameron fell to 5-11 overall and 3-7 in league play.