Long Aggie Road Trip Ends in Defeat

Long Aggie Road Trips End in Defeat

Submitted by OPSU Sports Information on 12/20/2015

Laredo, Texas-Sunday begins an extended holiday break for many basketball
teams across the nation, including the OPSU men’s and women’s teams. The
timing couldn’t be any better as both teams struggled on the road Saturday
afternoon taking conference losses to the Dustdevils of Texas A&M
International University. Both teams will get the opportunity to rest, spend
time with family, clean up and fine tune some things going into a grueling
conference schedule after the New Year.

In game one the Aggie women were defeated 73-58. Tatyana Bell and Sade
Tutson led the team with 14 and 13 points respectively. Overall the Aggies
shot 19-48 from the field (39.6 percent) compared to 51.7 percent from
TAMIU. All other statistical areas in the game were close to even, but the
Dustdevils’ ability to put the ball in the hoop more consistently proved to
be the difference in the game. Keiona Mathews led International with 37
points and 11 rebounds.

Per OPSU head coach Charles Terry, "We have a long way to go on both ends of
the floor for us to compete game-in and game-out for the rest of the season.
I felt like we didn’t show the focus needed to win the games prior to the
break; mentally we left a little early. We will use the break to become a
better version or ourselves."

Game two for the men didn’t fare any better as the Dustdevils’ team
outplayed the Aggies to the score of 89-60. After a competitive first half
the men were outscored by 25 points in the second period. The biggest
difference in the game was in the rebounding margin, with A&M-International
outpacing OPSU by 15 boards (39-24). The Aggies were led with 22 points by
Antonio Manns, Jr.; no other Aggie player scored in double-digits, nor did
any player on the court take in more than three rebounds. The Dustdevils
dominated the interior on the boards and in the paint scoring 48-24.

Coach Jerry Olson’s thoughts after the game: "Well it starts on the
defensive side of the ball. During both games we gave up too many
uncontested shots, too many lay-ups. Our defensive effort has to improve. I
thought TAMIU defended us hard and forced us into some bad shots. In
addition we were killed on the boards over the weekend. A lot of credit goes
to the Dustdevils; they were more physical and tougher than us down the
stretch after we found ourselves down eight with six minutes to go."

Both teams will be off for more than a week. The Lady Aggies next game will
be against Division I opponent North Texas on Dec. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in
Denton, Texas. The men’s team competes next versus Lubbock Christian on
Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. following the women’s Heartland conference match-up with
LCU at 6 p.m. on the road.

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Justine Gaskamp