Oklahoma City, Okla. – One of the most exciting and entertaining seasons in recent memory came to a close for the Oklahoma Panhandle State University men's basketball team after it came out on the short end of a 73-69 score at Oklahoma City University in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament semifinals. The Aggies closed the books on 2018-19 with a 16-14 record and gave several hundred of their fans who made the trek to OKC one final look at what is now the standard of excellence for future OPSU teams.
 
"We've come a long way," Aggies Head Coach Aaron Coombs reflected. "We made the conference tournament. Huge goal. We advanced in the conference tournament. Huge goal. We had had six top-25 wins this year.  We now have an 'expectation'.
 
"You know, Rome wasn't built in a day. Everything's got to be earned. I think when we reflect on this year, we've got to focus on the positives; there were a lot of positives. Now, making the conference tournament is an expectation every year."
 
As for the season-ending loss to the OCU team, Coombs said prior to the game that it would be a great battle between two quality teams. And Coombs proved to be a better prognosticator than Punxsutawney Phil, as the Aggies and Stars produced nine ties and 19 lead changes. OCU's largest led was five points in the waning seconds of the game and Panhandles held a seven-point cushion midway through the first half. 
 
"I thought OCU had some really nice adjustments in how they defended us tonight," Combs explained. "Hey, they're a good team; we're a good team. This was two teams slugging it out. That's what you expect at this stage. It's just unfortunate that we came up short."
 
Senior Alan Hodge Jr. buried a three-ball at the 10:17 mark of the first half to put Panhandle State up by a 21-14 score. Hodge had a perfect first half, going 5-of-5 from the field, 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, as the Aggies carried a 34-32 lead into the locker room. Hodge would finish the game with 15 points.
 
The teams continued to go back-and-forth in the second half, right down to the wire. With 31 seconds left to play, OCU broke a 66-66 deadlock with a trey, forcing an OPSU timeout.  When the Aggies missed a three-point attempt and were forced to foul, OCU made its free throws and were able to pit the game out of reach as the clock ticked off. Fittingly, senior Breiman Alexander scored the last basket of the season for Panhandle much as he has done all year, by draining a three-pointer with nine seconds left.
 
Alexander capped his amazing senior season with a 26-point game, going 9-of-22 from the floor overall and 7-for-17 from long distance. He also had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
Jaedon Whitfield, a junior, had 18 points on a 6-of-9 effort from the field, 6-for-7 from the free throw line, good for 18 points. Whitfield grabbed 10 rebounds to notch his fifth double-double game of the year.
 
Baris Ulker and Khallid Edwards finished with six and four points, respectively, to cap the Aggies scorers.
 
"I'm proud of our guys; proud of our seniors," Coombs reflected. "I feel bad for them right now. We've all been there as players. (Losing a tough game) is a hard feeling right now. I'm proud to be an Aggie We'll take some time to reflect and regroup, but next season starts now!"