McPHERSON, Kan. -  Jalen Thomas, a freshman from Amarillo's Palo Duro High School, had a huge afternoon for Oklahoma Panhandle State University men's basketball, guiding his team to an 88-83 come-from-behind Sooner Athletic Conference road win at Central Christian College. The win by the Aggies evened the team's overall record at 4-4 and improved to 3-4 in SAC contests.
 
With 16:00 left in the second half, OPSU found itself down by 18 points, 55-37. Panhandle still trailed by 10 points at the 6:51 juncture, 75-65.
 
But from that point, OPSU rode the efforts of Thomas in closing out the game on a 23-8 run. Thomas tallied the first seven points of the spree and 13 total in the run.
 
For the game, Thomas finished with a career and team high of 36 points, the most scored by an Aggie since Bre Alexander had a 39-point game in February of 2019. Thomas – who scored 20-plus points for the fourth time in his last five outings – hit 15-of-22 from the field and was 5-for-6 from the free throw stripe.
 
Thomas also topped all rebounders with eight caroms off the glass. He also dished off for two assists and had a team-best three steals, while raising his OPSU-leading scoring average to 19.7 points per game.
 
While no other Aggies reached double-figure scoring, Laird's team did demonstrate great balance down the lineup. DK Sumo IV and Justin Pile contributed eight points each, with Alfred Alkannama, Auston Chatman, TC Ellis and Jalen Williams booking seven each. Antanas Tamulis' six points and two from Garrett Richardson rounded out the OPSU scoring.
 
Chatman and Pile each pulled down six rebounds, while Ellis and Willims cleaned the glass for five boards each. Ellis had a team-leading four assists and Alkannama matched Thomas with three steals.
 
"We showed a lot of toughness and belief in each other tonight," OPSU Head Coach Mark Laird said. "CCC is a very tough and well coached team who is very hard to beat at their place. Everyone stepped up at critical moments, but (Jalen Thomas) was just unstoppable down the stretch. He's another special kid in a bunch of great ones. I love who we are becoming."
 
Panhandle will try to make it three-consecutive wins on Thursday (Feb. 4), when it hosts Texas Wesleyan University at Anchor D Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.