LAWTON, Okla. -- Midwestern State can spoil Cameron's chances of making the LSC Postseason Tournament and get a measure of revenge for a gut-wrenching loss earlier this season as the Red River Rivalry is renewed on Thursday night. Tipoff for the season finale at Aggie Gym is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Jaylan Thomas scored 24 points — all in the second half — and Cameron overcame a 13-point deficit in the final eight minutes at D.L. Ligon Coliseum to defeat Midwestern State the week before Christmas, 88-87.

Thomas was 8 of 10 from the floor, 4 of 4 from the free-throw line, and he hit all four of his 3-point shots in the second half to spearhead the Aggies comeback. Reggie Prudhomme also hit a 3-pointer in the second half as Cameron went 5 of 5 from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

The Aggies hit six of their final seven shots and finished the night shooting 48 percent from the field, including 10-of-21 shooting from 3-point range.

Midwestern State (16-11, 10-11) closed out its home schedule with a 70-56 win over Texas A&M International on Saturday. The Dustdevils took a 14-point lead in the first half, but the Stangs blew them away in the second half and improved to 12-4 "under the dome."

Sophomore Mason Gibson scored six of his 17 points during a 13-1 MSU run at the start of the half and his driving layup 5 1/2 minutes into the period gave the Mustangs a 42-40 lead they would not relinquish.

Junior Will Shepherd shook out of a scoring slump to fire in a team-high 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting with three 3-pointers. He also blocked a campaign-high five shots.

Bakari LaStrap pitched in 10 points and six rebounds as the Mustangs outscored TAMIU by 26 points in his 26 minutes of play, while Chukwu finished with 10 points and eight rebounds with a plus-24 in 32 minutes of play.

Senior Pierre Sanders delivered an all-around performance with six points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

Midwestern State is the fifth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 80.8 points per game. The Mustangs are allowing opponents to score 76 points per contest, which is eighth in the LSC.

The Mustangs are 4-7 as the visiting team this season and hope to end a five-game road skid.

Gibson is the leading scorer for MSU and ninth in the conference with 16.3 points per game. The 6-0 sophomore guard from Allen, Texas, is 105 of 140 (.750) from the free-throw line and has accounted for the seventh-most points from the foul line in the LSC.

Sanders is the second-leading scorer for MSU with 13.7 points per game. The 5-10 senior guard from Hutto, Texas, is third in the conference with 4.4 assists per game and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.73, which is 19th-best in the nation. Sanders is one of 14 players in NCAA Division II to post a triple-double this season. In a 108-104 double overtime win against St. Mary's on Nov. 18, Sanders had 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.

Bakari LaStrap is averaging 12.1 points and 3.3 assists per game this season. The 6-1 junior from Houston has scored in double-figures 18 times this season, including 11 of the last 13 games.

Will Shepherd is scoring 10.9 points per game for the Mustangs and is shooting 35.3 percent from beyond the arc this season (48 of 136). The 6-8 junior forward from Dallas, Texas, is shooting 40 percent from the floor (96 of 240) and 87.3 percent from the foul line (55 of 63).

Reggie Hill is the leading rebounder for MSU with 6.6 boards per game. The 6-8 junior forward from Melbourne, Florida, is averaging 8.6 points per game and is shooting 46 percent from the field (75 of 163), including 32.5 percent from 3-point range (25 of 77).

Midwestern State leads the conference and is 15th in the nation with 40.6 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are third in the league — 20th in the nation — with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game.

Duncan Alevok is the fourth-leading shot blocker in the LSC with 36 blocks this season, which is 54th in the nation, and MSU is blocking the second-most shots in the league with 4.5 per game, which is 16th among Division II programs. Alevok is responsible for 1.4 blocks per game.

The Mustangs are forcing the fifth-most turnovers in the LSC with 13.4 per game and sixth in the conference with 12.2 turnovers committed per game. The plus-1.3 turnover margin is sixth-best in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Cameron, 56-31, and has won eight of the last 10 meetings. The Mustangs are 20-23 when visiting the Aggies and have won their last five trips to Aggie Gym, including a 71-59 victory last season, when Midwestern State went 10 for 32 (31.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Cameron (16-11, 12-9) snapped a three-game losing streak with an 88-73 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday and improved to 9-5 at home this season. Thomas led the Aggies offense with 22 points. Lavell Brodnex had 12 points and 10 rebounds while Andre Washington had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Cameron, which is in a three-way tie for seventh place with TAMIU and UT Permian Basin, but only two of those teams will make the LSC Postseason Tournament.

The Aggies are scoring 80.4 points per game, and opponents are scoring 79.3 points per game against Cameron, which is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3-point range.

Brodnex is the leading scorer for Cameron with 13.6 points per game, and he has the sixth-best field goal percentage in the LSC at 48.1. The 6-5 sophomore from Saginaw, Michigan, is also the leading rebounder with 6.5 boards per game.

Cameron averages 35.7 rebounds per game, which is sixth in the LSC, but their rebound margin is the best in the conference at plus-5.3, which is 29th in the nation.

Thomas is the second-leading scorer for the Aggies with 13.4 points per game, and he is shooting 43.4 percent from the field.

Daylon Andrews is scoring 12.1 points per game, and Reggie Prudhomme contributes 10.8 points per game for the Aggies.

Prudhomme is dishing out 3.8 assists per game, which is seventh-most in the conference.

Kevin O'Connor is in his second season as a head coach at Cameron, where his record is 20-35 (.364).

Justin Leslie is in his fifth season with Midwestern State and his 17th season as a head coach at the collegiate level. His career record is 329-192 (.631) and he is 63-71 (.470) at MSU. Leslie competed as a 6-8 center at Azusa Pacific from 1996-2001. He is one of just five players in Golden State Athletic Conference history to play on four conference championship teams.

 

--MSUMustangs.com--