Lions Edge Aggies, 80-73

The Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies took on the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith Lions Sunday night in Goodwell. Despite a hard fought battle, the Aggies fell to the Lions 80-73.

The lead see-sawed back and forth in the first half with neither team gaining more than five points over the other. Midway through the half, Tavien Rosemond boosted the excitement with an athletic put-back dunk to give OPSU a five point edge. UAFS fought back and the lead changed hands nine more times until 38 seconds remained when Damar Hill went to the free throw line to give the Aggies a 32-31 lead going into the break.

Half two started much the same with four lead changes through the first six minutes of play, but after the fifth change, the Lions remained in charge and took the lone first place spot in the Heartland Conference with an 80-73 win over the Aggies. OPSU's two-point field goal percentage, 50.9, was better than their opponent's (42.4 percent), but the Aggies could not rely on their 3-point shots, going only 2-14 for the game.

Three UAFS players, Corey Copeland, Dijon Farr, and Jake Toupal led the scoring with 16 points each. Copeland also had 10 rebounds. Rosemond had 15 points followed by Hill with 14 and Bill Lee led the Aggies with seven rebounds. Lee, Carlos Tapia-Ponce, and Kysahn Sands each added 10 points.

The Lions are now 10-6 and 6-0 HC while the Aggies are 4-13 and 0-6 HC.

The men take a three game Texas tour, starting with a game against McMurry in Abilene on Jan. 24, then going to Austin to face St. Edward's in Austin, and ending with a non-conference game in Edinburg against the University of Texas-Pan American.