Goodwell, Okla.— Aggie Men's Basketball secured another momentous SAC win yesterday as they edged out No. 20 USAO in a battle to the finish, 84-83.

The Aggies were hot out of the gate on Thursday night, taking the lead early, knocking down 18-38 field goals and 9-19 from behind the arch in the first half. The defense held strong and kept the Drovers to a seven-point deficit going into halftime with the Aggies ahead 47-40.  

In the second half, both teams traded the lead late into the game with the Aggies allowing the Drovers to maintain a 55.17% field goal average, sinking 16-29 and scoring twice at the boards off offensive rebounds. But the Aggies rallied through to the final seconds, taking six points from beyond the arch in the final five minutes, and a 2-ptr from Alan Hodge, Jr. in the paint with 34 seconds left sealed the win.

Hodge earned a team-high 25 points and 3 steals while Khallid Edwards recorded 19 points with 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Breiman Alexander is inching closer to his career-2000^th point, bringing in 14 points for the Aggies. The team kept a 90% average (9-10) at the free-throw line and took 16 points from the Drovers off turnovers.

"I am very proud of our toughness tonight;" said Head Coach Aaron Coombs, "We played well, USAO played well. Our ability to answer every run they went on was critical to our success and most importantly, showed our growth as a team."
This win marks the team's third pivotal conference victory over nationally ranked teams. The Aggies previously defeated No. 24 John Brown University (71-69) and No. 12 Oklahoma City (90-86). The Aggies now sit at 11-7 overall on the season and are .500 in conference at 6-6.

Coombs affirmed, "We are continuing to improve and even though we have a long way to go, we continue to move forward in the pursuit of our goals."

The Lady Aggies fell Thursday in their contest against USAO, 45-77. The Drovers took the lead early and held it through all four quarters, knocking down a total 28-64 field goals and 3-13 3ptrs to secure the win. Addison Munsch battled for the Aggies with a team-high 16 points, Taylor Acosta and Monti Regier earned 7 and 6 points, respectively, and Hannah Faulks locked in 8 of the Aggies' total 29 rebounds. The Lady Aggies now hold a 9-9 record on the season and are 5-7 in conference.

Head Coach Victor Esparza lamented, "It was a really bad effort on offense and we just could never get it going." Looking to put the loss in their wake, he continued, "That game is behind us and we are ready for the next challenge."

Both teams will look to secure another big road win as they take on Mid-America Christian in another Sooner Athletic double match-up on January 26 in Oklahoma City.