OPSU Drops Two in CCU Tournament

OPSU Drops Two in CCU Tournament
By Justine Gaskamp on 12/01/2013

Lakewood, Colo.-The OPSU men’s basketball team spent Thanksgiving in
Colorado preparing for a tournament hosted by Colorado Christian University
on Friday, Nov. 29 and Saturday, Nov. 30.

First up for the Aggies was Bethany College, a NAIA team out of Kansas. OPSU
jumped out to an eight-point lead early in the first half thanks to combined
efforts from four different Aggies (T.J. Farrell, Bill Lee, Krys Randolph,
and Tavien Rosemond.)The Aggie men found themselves up by as much as 19
points and went in to halftime with a comfortable 13-point lead (50-37).

The Aggies maintained their lead throughout most of the second half until
the Swedes tied things up at 81-81 with 3:26 left on the clock. OPSU was up
by three points with 27 seconds left to play when Bethany’s Kirby Hawkins
scored one from outside the arc bringing the game into overtime with a 91-91
tied score.

The five-minute overtime started with another Hawkins three-pointer and the
Swedes were soon up by six. The Aggies narrowed the lead and eventually tied
the game with 13 seconds remaining, but a last-second three-pointer from the
Swedes ended the game in Bethany’s favor with a score of 106-103.

Five Aggies scored double-digits against the Swedes with Jeremy Newton
leading the team at 25 points. Bill Lee finished with 21 points, T. J.
Farrell scored 18, Krys Randolph 11, and Tavien Rosemond 11. Lee led in
rebounds with nine and Z. Jones contributed five assists.

On Saturday the Aggie men faced the home team, Colorado Christian
University, and kept things interesting with a back-and-forth battle which
would have the Aggies up by two points midway through the first half. The
battle continued until CCU hit a hot streak, outscoring the Aggies 28-12 in
the remaining minutes of the half which brought the Cougars into the locker
room with a 52-35 lead.

The Aggies started off scoring in the second half with a Bill Lee jumper
good from the paint followed by a successful three-point attempt from Jeremy
Newto, but the OPSU men would not get closer than 10 points for the
remainder of the game. CCU soon took over and finished the Aggies off by 22
points in a 102-80 victory. The Aggies’ record falls to 0-7 for the season.

Jeremy Newton once again led the Aggies in scoring bringing in 17 points
against the Cougars; Bill Lee and Kry Randolph also reached double-digits
with 13 and 10 points respectively. T. J. Farrell led in rebounds on
Saturday with seven.

Coach Jerry Olson’s thoughts on the weekend: "Fridays game was extremely
disappointing. We were up by 19 with a couple chances to win the game in
regulation, but couldn’t hit the free throws or make the shots. We need to
put people away when we have the chance. Saturday’s game we were outplayed.
Right now we have to improve our defense; we are having trouble keeping the
ball in front of us and we give up too much penetration. If our defense and
rebounding do not improve, we will have a long season."

The Aggie men will be on the road until January 9 when they are back in
Goodwell for a conference match-up against University of Arkansas-Fort
Smith.

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Justine Gaskamp