POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — A severely shorthanded Panhandle State men's basketball team (1-4, 0-1 SAC) fell 73-56 Thursday night at College of the Ozarks (2-2, 1-0) in the conference opener.
 
Despite another low-turnover game – the Aggies committed just six after turning it over time only five times in their last contest – OPSU struggled to make shots as it utilized a six-man rotation most of the night.
 
The offense was disjointed early, faced with varying zone-press, halfcourt-zone and man-to-man C of O defenses as it trailed 18-11 nearly a dozen minutes in.

A jumper from Christian Campbell sparked the Aggies' offense down the stretch of the first half, though, with Braedyn Ellison burying a pair of corner triples in short order.

Panhandle State then found open spots inside the paint to cut and drive towards, capped by a beautiful touch shot from Jibril Ndiaye that gave the visitors a brief 27-26 lead. Ozarks regained the slight advantage prior to halftime, 28-27.

C of O began connecting from beyond the arc to start the second half, as the hosts opened up a 49-36 lead.

Campbell did everything he could to keep the Aggies in the game with his patient scoring, but the difference remained greater than 10 points for an extended period of time.

Three-pointers from Kensington Grant-Brown and Ellison trimmed the deficit back to 10, 62-52, as the Aggies went into do-or-die mode with under four minutes to play.

Campbell made a trey on OPSU's next trip down the floor to make it a nine-point game, but foul trouble made it tough to get stops against the Bobcats as they closed out the contest.
 
Panhandle State was led by Campbell's 22 points, with Ellison (11 points) finishing as the only other Aggie in double figures. Jacob Taitte was also productive, scoring nine and pulling down a team-high seven boards.
 
The battle on the glass heavily favored the Bobcats, however, 37-23. OPSU was limited to just three second-chance points.
 
Coach Charles Belt's Thoughts: "Extremely proud of the guys who battled for us today. As a coach you don't expect to be this short-handed this early in a season. … Our guys are going to keep fighting and we will add players at semester. But for right now we have to keep chipping and find a way to get a couple wins until the reinforcements show up."
 
What's up next: The Aggies stay on the road Saturday to face John Brown University (3-3, 0-1). Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.