Bill Lee Scores Season-High 29 Points in High-Scoring Loss to Newman
Bill Lee had a season-high game against Newman on Saturday.—Kelsey Moser photo

Bill Lee Scores Season-High 29 Points in High-Scoring Loss to Newman

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—The Aggie men came close to their third conference win thanks to great scoring by senior Bill Lee during Saturday's OPSU Winter Homecoming game.

Despite taking a six-point lead at halftime, the Aggie men fell to the Newman Jets in a high-scoring, fast-paced match-up that ended in Newman's favor 100-96.

The Aggie men took an early lead going up 4-0 with less than one minute off the clock. Newman would even the score at 6-6 at the 17:18 mark and the score would tie four more times in the next four minutes. A Bill Lee jumper gave the Aggies a two point advantage with 13 minutes left in the half and it was all Aggies from that point on with OPSU going into the break up by six with a score of 54-48. Lee already had accumulated 17 points at halftime.

"Bill Lee has shown that he is one of the best in our league, he is always a tough matchup," remarked Coach Jerry Olson. Olson was also pleased with the defensive effort of Krys Randolph throughout the game.

The second half belonged to the Aggies through the 11:30 mark when Newman's Jeremy Espinoza tied things up at 71-71 after an Aggie foul. The Jets pulled ahead by four but the Aggies would even the score twice in the next six minutes and regained the lead with free throws landed by Jeremy Newton. It was neck and neck for the remainder of the game with both teams trading points at the line, but in the end Newman won the battle and came out with a four-point victory. Jeremy Newton led the Aggies in scoring in the second half with 17 points.

Lee had the game-high as well as a season-high in scoring finishing with 29 points. Newton totaled 26 points for the game and grabbed five boards. Z. Jones and Dawayne Matthews led the Aggies in rebounds with eight each and also reached double-digits scoring 12 and 11 points respectively. Newman's Jeremy Espinoza led the game in rebounds with nine.

Olson said this after the game: "I am really pleased with our effort and how hard we played; I am so thankful to have a team that doesn't give up and plays their hearts out every game no matter the score or record."

Olson added, "We need five guys on the court that want to defend; we can score on anyone, but we need to make stops. I was also disappointed with our discipline and the two technicals that gave Newman four points; those types of fouls are unacceptable."

Prior to the game the Aggies welcomed 3-6 grade basketball players from Straight Schools into their locker room to be a part of the pre-game speech. OPSU basketball is proud to support young athletes within the community.

OPSU now holds a 2-21 overall record with two conference wins. The Aggie men take on Dallas Baptist at home on Thursday, Feb. 27.
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