Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—In a fast-paced game on their home court, the Aggie men's basketball team put up a great fight Thursday evening against the University of Texas-Permian Basin.

UTPB came into the game ranked fourth in the Heartland Conference with an 11-4 overall record and winners of three straight games. After besting the Aggies 90-80 Thursday night, the Falcons advance to third in the conference with only two Heartland losses.

The Aggies fell behind early, but were able to take a 16-15 lead at 13:08 mark of the first half with a successful three-point shot by Kysahn Sands. UTPB went on a quick 7-0 run to take the lead with a score of 22-16 with 8:54 remaining in the first half. The Aggies were once again able to take a two-point lead at the 8:35 mark making at 26-24. There was no lack of scoring in the first half as UTPB went into the locker room with a 48-41 at halftime. Both teams shot well, each averaging 48.4 percent in the first half. Leading scorers after twenty minutes were Jeremy Newton for the Aggies with 13 points, and Madison Turner for the Falcons with 18.

The second half opened up with a successful lay-up by UTPB's Keith Martin, bringing the score to 50-41 in favor of Permian-Basin, but the Aggies responded quickly with a lay-up of their own by senior point guard Z. Jones. The Aggies and the Falcons traded baskets back and forth to start the second half bringing the score to 57-49 at the 15:24 mark. The Aggies started falling behind with 9:44 remaining in the game with the score 72-57. OPSU made a strong comeback to bring the game to within six points with only 38 seconds left on the clock. The Aggies were forced to foul at that point and the Falcons knocked down their free throws grabbing their fourth straight win.

Leading scorers of the game were UTPB's Anthony Dees with a game-high 28 points and Madison Turner with 26. Dwayne Soders for Permian Basin had the games only double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds.

For the Aggies Jeremy Newton led the team with 23 points and Z. Jones also played hard bringing in 19 points and five assists. Dawayne Matthews was the third Aggie scoring in double digits with 11 points off the bench. Leading in rebounds for the Aggies was Kysahn Sands with five followed by T. J. Farrell who finished with four.

OPSU finished shooting 47 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 74 percent from the line. The Aggies overall record drops to 1-16 and they move to 1-7 within the Heartland Conference.

The free-throw line continues to haunt the Aggies as they are averaging 67 percent to their opponents' 77 percent. Aggies' Coach Jerry Olson said that, "The free-throw line is killing us and the other teams just aren't missing; it's disappointing because if we are in the correct positions, then we should not be fouling."

Coach Olson went on to say, "The last four games I feel that we did not defend hard enough and we've got to get some scoring inside. Jeremy (Newton) and Z. (Jones) both played well tonight; I am proud of how we are competing, and we're so close to making everything click."

Conference action continues Saturday, Jan. 25 when the Aggies host Lubbock Christian who is currently ranked sixth in the Heartland with an overall record of 8-6; tip-off is set for 3 p.m.