Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Goodwell, Okla.—Heartland Conference play kicked off Thursday evening in the Oscar Williams Field House as both the Aggie women and men faced the Rattlers of St. Mary's University for two tough match-ups that each ended in victories for the visiting teams.

The evening began with a moment of silence to remember Ms. Jean Mee who passed away earlier this week. A longtime supporter of OPSU and number one Aggie basketball fan for many years, Mee held a special place in the hearts of the players and coaches and was a dear member of the OPSU family. Her presence will be greatly missed, but her spirit will most certainly live on.

Both teams put up a tremendous effort against two very good St. Mary's teams. Down at the half (43-25) the Aggie women battled to the bitter end, making up ground in the final three minutes to pull out of a 20-point deficit and made the Rattlers work for their nine-point win; the final score was 74-65, St. Mary's. The Rattler ladies now sit tied for first in the conference along with St. Edward's.

Coach Terry was extremely proud of his team saying, "We put up great effort and kept fighting which is all I can ask for. There are a few things we need to sharpen offensively to get the ball in the hole to help us score better."

Tatyana Bell led the Aggies in scoring with 18 points and had help from Kiera Waters and Jacinda Balderrama who each put up 12 points against the Rattlers. Sade Tutson was also a leading contributor with 11 points. Junior center Celci Bakos got off to a good start in her first Aggie basketball game; she led her team with six rebounds in 18 minutes of game time.

SMU's Morgan Pullins, three-time Heartland Conference Player of the Week so far this season and last year's second-team All-Conference forward, led the game with a double-double in scoring and rebounds. Pullins earned game-highs with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Kiara Etheridge led the game in assists contributing five for St. Mary's.

The Aggie men had their hands full with the size and experience of a veteran St. Mary's team as the Rattlers went into halftime with a comfortable 19-point lead. The Aggies went to work in the second half outscoring the Rattlers 35-33, but the double-digit gap not be bridged, and St. Mary's earned the win with a score of 84-67.

Head men's coach Jerry Olson was also really proud of the effort his team displayed. "We played really hard against a very good basketball team. We made a lot of mental mistakes and errors on defense that caused us to give up some easy points. We played with a lot of heart, now we just need to get our heads in the game a little better."

Antonio Manns, Jr. was back at the top with a game-high 17 points; eleven coming from the line and two threes made up the rest. Jared Straight and John Lazenby combined for 20 points; eight in free-throws and 12 from long range shots. Trey Fankhouser and Austin Thrash each contributed three rebounds to add to the Aggies' 16 for the game, and Marquavius Williams led his team with four assists.

St. Mary's had four shooters combine for more than half of their points; Isaiah Matthews led with 14 followed by Justin Alexander with 13, Marvin Whitt with 12 and J.J. Bolton who scored 10. The Rattlers averaged 62 percent shooting for the game and 53 percent from three-point range. Joe Monroe and Whitt shared the game-high with four rebounds each and Bolton led the game in assists with six.

Olson was impressed with St. Mary's stating, "They shot unbelievably and played unselfish basketball. I think they could be a top ten team."

The Aggie teams each hold two wins and look to add a conference win to their records as they take on Texas A&M-International Saturday, Dec. 20 starting at 1 p.m. with the women; the men are set to tip-off at 3 p.m.