USAO’s men’s basketball team (10-3, 5-2 SAC) picked up their first win of the new year against Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU) in the Drover Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 6.
Manny Gatkek, a junior forward, put the first two points of the game up, which junior guard, Cade Allen followed up with a three-pointer. Senior forward, Rory Pantophlet added himself onto the board with two free throws. USAO kept a steady presence on the score board, especially as head coach Chris Francis subbed out his five starters for a fresh set of legs after the first five minutes of play. Anthony Ray, Jayden Patcha, Reggie Quezada, Niieihii Blackbear, and Tre Edwards entered and added seven points to the 13 points USAO already obtained before additional substitutions were made.
In the last ten minutes, Quezada hit a three-pointer to increase USAO’s lead to 28-15. Blackbear followed suit recorded his own three-pointer. Francis subbed in a new set of legs again with seven minutes left before halftime, and once again five players came off the bench for the Drovers a few minutes later. One of the big plays to close out the first half was when Blackbear dunked the ball to increase USAO’s lead. At halftime, the score was 51-30 in USAO’s favor.
Gatkek started the second half with a slam dunk. The scoring barrage came from efforts from Tyler Cauley, Pantophlet, Quezada, Patcha, and other Drovers. Zach Hays and Lendy Holmes made back-to-back three-pointers for the Drovers to increase their lead to 97-65. Jaden Causwell, a senior forward, tallied another three-pointer to the board to push the Drovers into the triple digits. USAO’s Cejay Mann added another three-pointer. As the final buzzer rang out, USAO won 111-74.
USAO shot 39-75 (.52) from the field, 10-27 (.37) from behind the arc, and 23-32 (.719) from the charity stripe. In comparison, OPSU shot 25-60 (.417) from the field, 9-28 (.321) from behind the arc, and 13-22 (.591) from the charity stripe. OPSU recorded 24 turnovers, which USAO scored 33 points off of. Interestingly, the Drovers that came off the bench scored 72 points.
Quezada was the game’s highest scorer with 22 points, which he paired with four rebounds and three assists. Pantophlet tallied 14 points and five rebounds. Allen was one point behind with 13 points and three assists. The team had 26 assists, with Logan Dolan leading with four. Gatkek lead with six rebounds. The Drovers tallied a dozen steals, with Jaden Harrell using his quickness to record three.
USAO will have two games on the road, with the first at Central Christian College Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7:45 p.m.
Emily Loughridge is a third-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
