Dumas drops 25 in loss to No. 8 Buffs

November 29, 2018

Cameron University Athletics

Kenton Means – Sports Information Director

 

CANYON, Texas – Senior Zach Dumas recorded his fourth straight 20-plus point game as he scored 25 in the men’s basketball 91-79 loss to No. 8 West Texas A&M in the team’s Lone Star Conference opener on Thursday night.

Dumas’ 25 points came on 8-11 shooting from the field, while he went 2-3 from three and 7-10 from the free throw line. He also had five rebounds before fouling out with just 26 minutes played in the loss. Johann Tate and Tyus Momoh each chipped in 13 points, while freshman Andrew Nguyen had 10 points on 4-4 shooting from the floor.

As a team, Cameron shot a season best 54 percent from the field, going 9-22 from three and 16-22 from the foul line. Their 16 turnovers led to 21 points for the Buffs, who shot 44.8 percent from the floor as a team.

The Aggies found themselves in a high-scoring, up-tempo contest in the first half as the team teams were on fire from three in the first 20 minutes of play. CU shot 57.1 percent from the floor, going 5-11 from deep, while the Buffs hit on 50 percent of their shots from the floor, 11 of which were from long range.

The Black and Gold used their hot shooting to pull out in front by eight, 16-8, five minutes into the contest, but the shooting of Gach Gach got the No. 8 ranked Buffs back in the game as they came back to take a 24-22 lead with just under 10 to play. The two teams traded buckets until a late WT run capped by another Gach three put the home team up 10, which is what they would lead by at the half, 52-42.

Dumas led CU at the break with 13 points, going 4-6 from the floor and 4-6 from the free throw line, while Momoh had seven points. Gach finished the half with 24 points, hitting 7-10 from the perimeter and 3-3 from the foul line.

West Texas held the Aggies at bay for most of the first half, as each time they tried to cut into the lead the Buffs lead, the home team would pull back ahead by at least 10. CU’s biggest threat came with under five minutes left, as the Black and Gold started to press WT defensively, allowing them to get a few transition buckets that would get them to within five, after a pair of Momoh free throws and a pull-up jumper by Dumas at the 3:35 mark.

With just three minutes left in the contest, West Texas started to take over again, building their lead back up to 13 with on a pair of Gach free throws at the 1:26 mark. After Nguyen hit a three to get CU back to within 10, Joel Murray put the game away with a pair of free throws, giving his team the 91-79 win.

Gach struggled from the field, but still scored a game-high 31 points, going 8-16 from the perimeter and 7-7 from the charity stripe; Ryan Quaid chipped in 16 points.

Cameron is now 2-5 on the young season and 0-1 in league play, while WT moves to 9-1 overall with a 1-0 LSC mark.

The Aggies will next be in action on Saturday, as they take on Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M. starting at 5 p.m. (CT).