Oklahoma Panhandle State University Men's Basketball Team opened 2024 with a thrilling conference showdown against the Texas Wesleyan Rams. After returning from winter break, both teams were eager to make a statement returning to conference play.

The game began with a gripping first eight minutes, featuring a back-and-forth battle until the Aggies found themselves trailing by six points (16-10). However, Joe Greaves hit back-to-back threes to tie the Aggies up. From there it ignited a 13-5 run for OPSU to close out the half, leading them to a 43-35 advantage at halftime, fueled by six three-pointers in the half for the Aggies.

Unfortunately, the second half painted a different picture, as the Rams came out strong and managed to erase the first-half lead by the 17-minute mark. Both teams then faced a three-minute scoring drought from the 15-minute mark to the 12-minute mark. The Aggies' shooting struggles in the second half became apparent, as they only made six three-pointers throughout the entire game, going 0-8 in the second half.

Despite a valiant effort, the Aggies ultimately fell short, concluding the game with a final score of 75-63 in favor of the Texas Wesleyan Rams.

Leading the charge for the Aggies, Fred Robinson put up an impressive 25 points and contributed three assists. Amaree Brown finished with 10 points, while Abdulh Diaby showcased an all-around performance with 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Kaleb Stephens made significant contributions with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and zero turnovers.

Head Coach Charles Belt expressed his thoughts after the game, stating, "Toughness, toughness, toughness! When you play basketball after break it's never clean, it's never pretty. The toughest most gritty team wins. Tonight we got punked! The book is out. There's no secrets this is another game where the game plan was attack us on the interior. Be physical, be tough and own the paint against us. As a coach I have to figure how we combat that…. Do we go small and try to counter it with scoring and guard play? Or does someone on our team emerge as a guy who wants to take responsibility and own the paint for us? That's the question the next 16 games for us. Everyone wants an "opportunity" there's no bigger opportunity out there than being able to provide us a presence in the paint defensively and on the glass."

The Aggies are now set to continue their road journey as they face the University of Science and Arts on Saturday at 4 PM.