Men's Basketball | 11/10/2019 11:47:00 AM
Box Score
HOBBS, N.M. – For the second time in eight days, the Oklahoma Panhandle State University men's basketball team suffered a loss at the hands of the University of the Southwest, this time by an 84-72 tally at the Jack & Mabel Student Life Center. The good news for the Aggies (3-2) is that the Mustangs (4-3) are the only team to have beaten them thus far in 2019-20.
Early foul trouble – four Aggies had at least two fouls in the first half – slowed down the squad's high-octane attack. USW held a 51-38 halftime cushion, but were out-scored by Panhandle in the second half, 34-33.
"We did a better job of taking care of the ball," OPSU Head Coach
Mark Laird said. "But we still have not gotten into a rhythm offensively and that's causing us to play more defense, more often. We are still doing a good job of turning teams over (forcing 19 T.O.'s), but we gave up 15 offensive rebounds.
"We have 11 days to regroup in order to get ready for a tough conference road trip (Nov. 21 at OCU and Nov. 23 at Southwestern Christian."
Junior guard
DK Sumo IV led all Aggies with 13 points, hitting 6-of-11 from the field. Sumo also gave off five assists and made three steals, both team-leading numbers.
Junior transfer
Maurice Waters matched Sumo with 13 points. Waters poured in 5-of-12 shots from the field, while also hauling in five rebounds and making one block.
Daniel Holyfield and
Brett Williams booked eight and seven points, respectively. Holyfield had five rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Auston Chatman,
Jalen Williams,
Terrance Gibbons and Tristan Womble contributed six points, apiece. Chatman and Womble each grabbed six boards.
Garret Hoffman's five points, and two from
Quentin Fankhouser, rounded out the Aggie scoring for the evening.
As a team, Panhandle shot a deft 50 percent (28-56), but uncharacteristically struggled from beyond the arc by shooting 25 percent (3-12). The free throw line also continues to haunt OPSU, converting just 50 percent (13-26) versus USW.
