Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Fort Smith, Ark.—In their first games of 2017, the Panhandle State men's and women's basketball teams were defeated on the road by the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Lions. The Aggie women fell by a score of 78-35, and the men's team took a 44-point loss (104-60) to the Lions.

Hannah Whitaker and Darby Price led the scoring for the Aggie women, totaling eight points each in Monday's first matchup with UAFS. The pair also held the team-highs in rebounds combining for ten of the Aggies' 28 total boards; Whitaker finished with six rebounds and Price had four. The Lions totaled 47 rebounds led by Zhanesha Dickerson with ten and Maya Perry with eight. Dickerson also earned the game's only double-double with a game-high of 18 points.

For the game the Aggies averaged 26.5 percent in shooting and went 0-10 from three-point range; they shot 47.4 percent at the line landing 9-19 free throw attempts. Fort Smith shot at 47.5 percent from the field and hit 9-19 shots beyond the arc; from the line the Lions averaged 61.9 percent (13-21). Panhandle's Head Coach Charles Terry was disappointed in his team's performance stating, "When we can't score, we really can't score. I did not think we played with any heart and that we took a huge step back from our first conference efforts."

Leading scorers for the Aggie men were Jace Kerr with 15 points and Sita Sesay with nine; Tevin Lytes and Riyadh Asad each scored eight. At the boards the Aggies were outmatched 58-23 by UAFS; Lytes was the team's leading rebounder with four defensive boards for the game. The Lions were led by Kyree Elder who notched a double-double with a game-high of 13 rebounds and added 15 points; Ognjen Vasiljevic was the Lions' leading scorer totaling a game-high of 20 points.

As a team the Aggie men averaged 40 percent from the field and went 7-26 in long distance shots; Kerr and Asad put in five of Panhandle's seven three-point shots. Fort Smith averaged 49.4 percent in shooting and connected on 6-23 three-point attempts. Both team shot well from the line with the Aggies averaging 75 percent in free throws and the Lions shooting at 72.7 percent. The Aggies gave up 39 points off turnovers and 64 points in the paint.

Coach Jerry Olson gave credit to UA Fort Smith saying, "They played great and took it to us right from the start. We just couldn't handle their man-to-man pressure and gave up some easy scores off the turnovers." Olson added, "I want to congratulate Coach Newman on earning his 200th win."

The women now hold a 1-11 record on the season, while the Aggie men are 5-8; both teams are still on the hunt for their first win within the Heartland Conference with four league losses each. Aggie Basketball will remain on the road for one more Heartland matchup against Newman on Jan. 7 before returning to their home court on Jan. 12 when both teams take on Lubbock Christian; the women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men at 7:30 p.m.