Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Goodwell, Okla.—Finally back on their home court after a five-game road stretch, the OPSU men's basketball earned their seventh win of the season by a score of 86-67 over Bethel College in Monday night's matchup.

The Aggies got off to a sluggish start and found themselves down by seven points after the first six minutes of play. Bethel owned the lead from the 18-minute mark through the 12:05 when senior guard Marquavius Williams landed a three-point shot to pull the Aggies ahead by one point (15-14). The Aggies owned the advantage for the remainder of the first half, going up by as much as 18 points with under a minute on the clock. At the break OPSU led by a score of 45-31.

Antonio Manns, Jr. and junior transfer Collin Miller led the Aggies in scoring, each with seven points at halftime. Bethel's Austin Mitchell held a high of nine points in the first half, followed by teammate Jacob Miller who totaled eight at the break. The Aggies averaged an even 50 percent in shooting including six of ten from three-point range; the Threshers were held to three of nine line distance shots and struggled at the line in the first half, making just four of ten free throw attempts.

Williams put up a shot in the paint to open the second half and increase the Aggie lead to 16 points (47-31). The Aggies went on to outscore Bethel 27-16 in the following twelve minutes to take their largest lead of the game at the 7:42 mark with a score of 74-47. The Threshers then hit a hot streak from beyond the arc landing four of four three point attempts to cut the deficit to 13 points with 4:23 left to play. Two visitor fouls added four quick points to the Aggie side and two threes by Manns in the closing minutes sealed the deal for an OPSU victory by a margin of 19 points.

Manns put up a second-half high of 14 points and finished the game leading all scorers with a total of 21 points. Arsenovic earned his third double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high of ten rebounds. Bethel's Austin Mitchell also finished with 15 points and 6'5 forward/center Jacob Miller brought down eight boards for the Threshers before fouling out in the final three minutes of the game.

Equally matched from the bench both teams gained 22 points off non-starters with Collin Miller leading the Aggies with eight points; Miller also brought down four defensive rebounds and had three steals for the game. Back in action and getting his first minutes of the season, sophomore Jake Regier was efficient sinking two for two at three-point range to contribute six points from the Aggie bench. Other leading scorers for OPSU were Marquavius Williams and Dedrick Shannon, Jr. who scored 14 and 11 points respectively.

Happy with the win Coach Jerry Olson commented, "It's nice to be back home! I thought we had a good turnout for a Monday night and considering that school is still out." He added of the game, "Bethel has a very good team; they're dangerous with great shooters and are very well-coached."

The Aggies capitalized on take-aways scoring 24 points off Thresher turnovers and had 15 steals on 20 Bethel turnovers. "I was very happy with our defense; we defended so much better than we did on the road," Olson stated. He added, "Zoran [Arsenovic] gave great rebounding and Collin [Miller] gave us a big-time spark and played great defense." The coach also gave credit to the offense saying, "Dedrick [Shannon, Jr.] distributed the ball well and got us some great shots."

The Aggies, now 7-5 on the season, will look for their first league win as they enter the conference stretch this Thursday with a matchup against Oklahoma Christian University. The Eagles currently sit ninth in the Heartland ranks with a combined record of 4-7 and one conference win. The Aggies women's team will also take on OCU Thursday night with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff scheduled; the men's game will follow at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free for both games.