Oklahoma Panhandle State University

The Aggies were without the services of 7’0” center Steph Colvin (due to illness) and went with a four guard line-up for a large portion of the night. At times, there were five Aggie guards on the floor at once and each player responded to the challenge.

There was lots of action in the first half, but not much scoring, especially in the early minutes. OPSU’s Chuck Salisbury canned a three-pointer to put his team ahead 15-14 with 6:45 left in the first half, but with 5:20 to go it was tied 16-16. The Falcons forged ahead 20-16 with 3:40 to play and held the halftime lead at 27-24.

The second half began with some intense play under both baskets; the lead changed hands several times and a short Reggie Lassiter jumper near the 15:30 mark put the Aggies ahead 34-33. With 13:15 on the clock it was tied at 37-37.

With eleven minutes left, Lassiter hit a deuce and the score was dead even at 42-42. However, the Falcons scored four straight and with 6:50 on the clock, they led 46-42.

At the 5:30 mark, Lassiter canned a pair of free throws to cut the Falcon advantage to 48-45, and with 4:51 to go, two free throws by Trayvon Williams cut the Falcon lead to 48-47. A pair of free throws by Justin Bailey near the three minute mark extended the Falcon lead to 50-47, but Lassiter soon got both of them back with free throws to take the score to 50-49. With 1:55 to go, a Williams dunk gave the Aggies a 51-50 advantage.

With 17 seconds on the clock, Marcale Marshall canned two clutch free throws to put the Aggies on top 54-50, and Salisbury slammed the door with two free throws in the final five seconds and the Aggies left the court winners at 56-50.

The Falcon’s Bailey was the game’s scoring leader with 19 points and his team fell to 3-6 in the Heartland Conference and 6-13 overall.

The one-two punch of Marshall and Lassiter led the way for the Aggies with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Salisbury and Kevin Geofroy each scored seven for the Aggies and Mark Bultman and Salisbury each had three rebounds.

Post game, OPSU Jerry Olson was pleased with the win and gave a good share of credit to his assistant coach, Victor Esparza. Olson added that his players worked hard for the victory and also noted that Lassiter had missed practice due to illness, but still played well in the game.

With the win, the Aggies upped their record to 5-4 in league play and 9-10 overall. They will be on the road until February 11, when they return to Goodwell take on the team representing the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.