GOODWELL, Okla. - The Oklahoma Panhandle State men's basketball team dropped a close game to the John Brown University Golden Eagles with a final score of 75-70. A matchup that saw the Aggies' top-5 offense against the Golden Eagles' top-5 defense. Sophomore Jalen Thomas would be the focal point for the Aggie offense of the day going for 26 points with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The Aggies' three-point struggles in the first half coupled with their free-throw struggles in the second half spelled too big of a hole for them to crawl out of to win the game.

Head Coach Mark Laird wanted the team to focus on each possession and make the most of it against a team that does not give up many points. 

"We wanted to focus on defending the ball with passion, winning the boards, and moving & sharing the ball. We did a decent job at all of those at different times, we got in too much foul trouble and made critical mistakes down the stretch. Against a team like that, you just can't make those mistakes. We will regroup tomorrow and get ready for another very tough SAC opponent on Monday". 

The Aggies saw double-digit production from three different players. Jalen Thomas scored twenty-six, Rayquan Elliott and Justin Pile both had twelve. Reyes Ludi-Herrara saw his first major action of the game scoring five points and coming down with 7 rebounds in his 27 minutes of play. 

The Aggies (9-13, 6-11 SAC) would drop their second game of the season to the Golden Eagles (16-9, 10-7 SAC). In their previous matchup, the Golden Eagles would rely on their three-point range to widen the gap between themselves and the Aggies. However, the Aggies managed to keep them to 9-25 from deep in their most recent matchup. The Aggies needed to manage the range of the Golden Eagles as well as control the boards for them to come out with the win.

Jalen Thomas would highlight the Aggie offense once again with his lights-out mid-range jumper. Finishing the night shooting fifty-five percent from the field leading to his team-high twenty-six points. Thomas' ability to drive into the paint and make the acrobatic and tough shots are what has propelled him to one of the top 5 scorers in the Sooner Athletic Conference (5th).

The Golden Eagles match up really well against most of their opponents primarily due to their height and length. Allowing them to outrebound and fight for second-chance points. However, this would not be the case against the Aggies. The Aggies were aggressive on the boards in the first half which allowed them to get their second-chance points. Pile and Ludi-Herrera would lead the Aggies in the first half in rebounds, combining for 7 total rebounds. What set apart the two teams at the half was their abilities to knock down the three. The Aggies would go 0 for 6 from three at the half while the Golden Eagles would go 6 for 13. Despite the gap between their three-point outcomes the Aggies were able to keep it close due to their free-throw performance. Dropping 11 of 14 from the charity stripe to keep the score 38 - 31 at halftime. 

The Aggies would pick up the pace in the second half and focus on scoring in transition and drawing fouls to capitalize on the Golden Eagles' slower transitioning defense. The second half saw more effective Aggie shooting as the half drew to a close. Finishing the half shooting fifty-eight percent from the field and fifty percent from three. The Golden Eagles weren't content and flipped the script on the Aggies in the half. Driving into the paint and drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line. Going 18 for 23 in the half. Which seemed to be a big gamechanger for not only this game but also the season. The struggle in keeping the other team from drawing fouls and Aggies getting in early foul trouble.

The Aggies would finish the contest shooting a 49 percent field goal percentage, 29 percent three-point percentage, and 67 percent free-throw percentage. A tough loss for the Aggies as they played strong on both sides of the ball but were somewhat handcuffed by early foul trouble.

Men's basketball returns to action against the Oklahoma City Stars Monday, February 7th at 7:45 PM.