Men's Basketball | 2/11/2022 1:49:00 AM

Box Score CHICKASHA, Okla. - The Oklahoma Panhandle State Men's basketball team headed to central Oklahoma to take on the #10 ranked USAO Drovers. Currently, the Drovers are number one in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) in the offense. Unfortunately, the Aggies would fall to the Drovers 90-107. Justin Pile, Rayquan Elliott, and Jalen Thomas would all see double figures in the Aggies' loss. 

The Aggies look to ride the momentum of their 105-102 victory over the OCU Stars on Monday. Head Coach Mark Laird says, "We felt pretty confident that we could score on them. But we also knew we needed to focus on staying connected to slow down their scoring. Unfortunately, we didn't do that tonight. They are a very talented team. They showed why they are in 1st place in the SAC and #10 in the country. We will turn our attention now to another adamant road game on Saturday."

The Aggies and the Drovers come into this contest as top five SAC offenses while also being the bottom third defense. By being more offensive-minded, the more solid team on defense would notch the win in the end. This is precisely what the Drovers did, as they notched fewer turnovers than the Aggies coupled with more offensive rebounds and second-chance points. 

Elliott, Pile, and Thomas would all reach double-digits against the Drovers. Elliott for twenty-three, Thomas for twenty-eight, and Pile for eighteen. They account for 77% of the Aggies' total points on the night. 

Panhandle State (10-14, 7-12 SAC) has not had an official game against the USAO Drovers (22-4, 17-2 SAC) in a little over two years. Primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Which also canceled their previous game this season. Their last matchup took place on February 8th, 2020. A game where the Drovers would drop the Aggies 65-94. However, Head Coach Mark Laird has rebuilt the current Aggie team as TC Ellis, and Auston Chatman is the only remaining Aggies from that 2019-2020 squad. 

Jalen Thomas and Rayquan Elliott would garner all the attention on the Aggie offense on the day. However, the guard duo is not a top-5 scorer in the SAC for no reason, as both have found their niche throughout the season. Thomas with his acrobatic mid-range jumper and Elliott with his hard-nosed drives through the paint coupled with his dagger three-point shots. Elliott would finish the game against the Drovers, shooting forty-seven percent from the field. Thomas would shoot 56% from the field and 73% from the free-throw line. 

The Aggies come into Chickasha after a resounding win over the Oklahoma City Stars on Monday. The SAC's 4th ranked offense looks to match up with the number one ranked offense in the USAO Drovers. Both teams also boast top 5 scorers in the SAC. The Aggies with Thomas and Elliott combine for an average of 34.4 points per game, and the Drovers with Cameron Hines. A key for the Aggies would be the limit the shots of Hines to come out with the win. However, that focus on Hines opened up other Drover players to score in the first half, significantly beyond the arc. The Drovers would shoot fifty-eight percent from three in the half and take a fourteen-point lead into the half. 

As the second half rolled around, the Aggies looked to minimize their turnovers in the half and heighten their transition defense to stifle the number one offense in the SAC. Despite a more challenging and tighter Aggie defense, the Drovers' guard Hines would put the team on his back, going for sixteen points in the half. The Aggies would begin to chip away at the Drovers, but the Drovers' success from beyond the arc, their transition offense, and ability to capitalize on Aggie turnovers proved too much for the Aggies to overcome. Thus, leading to their 90-107 win over the Aggies. 

The Aggies finished the game shooting forty-six percent from the field, twenty percent from three, and eighty-two percent from the charity stripe. It was a humbling loss for the Aggies after their offensive showing against the Oklahoma City Stars on Monday. 

Panhandle State returns for the second game of their two-game road trip against the Texas Wesleyan Rams on Saturday, February 12th at 3:45 PM.