Aggie Basketball Meets with Defeat at MACU

Oklahoma City—In their final road games of the regular season, the Panhandle State women’s and men’s basketball teams took conference losses to Mid-America Christian University on Saturday. The Aggie women fell 84-61 to the Evangels, with the men’s team being defeated 104-85.

Monti Regier, Madison Dearmin and Naomi Rodriguez combined for half of the Aggie women’s total points with Regier putting up a team high of 11 points, including three three-point shots. Dearmin and Rodriguez each scored ten points for Panhandle. Hannah Faulks led the team in rebounds with seven followed by Dearmin and Addison Munsch with six apiece. Morgan Latta matched the game-high in assists with MACU’s Alexis Shannon, each contributing four on the day.

The Aggies were outmatched 58-42 at the boards and gave up 20 points at the foul line and 27 points in second-chance shots. MACU’s women now sit in the middle of the pack in SAC standings with a 12-7 conference record.

The men’s team was led by Jace Kerr and Tyler Pate who each offered up 29 and 24 points respectively as game-high scorers. Kerr totaled 13 points from the line and Pate added nine on long-distance shots beyond the arc. Jaedon Whitfield notched another double-double with a game-high of 18 rebounds and 11 total points. DK Sumo led the men in assists with four and made away with the only steal for the Aggies in the game.

Averaging 40.6 percent in shooting, the Aggie men struggled at three-point range, only landing 7-27 shots for a 25.9 percent average beyond the arc. MACU shot slightly better, connecting on 14-39 three-point attempts and averaging 48.8 in overall shooting. The Evangels received optimum performance from non-starters, adding 44 points off the bench to Panhandle State’s 21.

Head Coach Jerry Olson thought his guys competed well and played hard, but just allowed too much penetration from their opponents. “They hit some threes in the first half that gave them some separation.” Olson added, “We need our big four to all have good games to win; we had three of four today. Jace [Kerr] and Tyler [Pate] scored well for us and Jaedon [Whitfield] was a beast on the boards.”

With a 14-12 overall record and six wins in the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Panhandle State women’s team remains in the hunt for a spot in the post-season play. The Aggie men, while out of contention for a playoff berth, still look to end the season with their best record in 15 years (16-10 in 2002-2003).

Aggie Basketball will complete their 2017-2018 regular seasons at home this week with games on Thursday, Feb. 22 and Friday, Feb. 24. The OPSU History Club is hosting a Throwback Thursday night as the Aggies take on John Brown starting at 6 p.m. with the women’s game. Fans are encouraged to dress in retro Aggies gear or old Panhandle State uniforms to compete for a prize during a halftime costume contest. On Saturday our senior basketball players will be recognized prior to each game, and the annual Panhandle State Staff Silent Auction will also be taking place throughout both games.