Freshman Jaedon Whitfield put in a great game for the Aggies in an exhibition matchup with Division I opponent Louisiana-Lafayette Thursday night; Whitfield scored a team-high of 13 points against the Ragin' Cajuns.—Sarah Brady photo (11/15/2016)
Box Score Lafayette, La.—The Aggie men's basketball team maintains their 2-1 record after taking a large loss in Thursday night's exhibition matchup with Division I opponent Louisiana Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns ran away with a 117-47 victory in the showcase game that saw the Aggies lagging throughout.
Both teams came out firing from the start with Lafayette landing 25-38 shots in the first half and Panhandle putting in 7-30 from the field. At halftime the Ragin' Cajuns held a substantial 40-point lead with a score of 65-25. Second-half shooting did not bring much improvement for the Aggies who hit on nine of 31 attempts with only three long-distance shots after the break.
Struggling on defense the Aggies were beaten at the boards 55-19 and gave up 76 points in the paint. The Ragin' Cajuns also got away with 34 points off Aggie turnovers. A bright spot for Panhandle came in their bench performance; the Aggies added 26 points from non-starters with freshmen Jaeden Whitfield,
Jace Kerr and
Bowan Nyberg leading the pack. Panhandle's head coach
Jerry Olson gave credit to his younger players saying, "I thought our freshmen played really well."
Whitfield earned a team-high of 13 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc; he also led the team from three-point range sinking 3-7 long-distance shots. Kerr connected for eight points and had two steals in the game; and Nyberg not only added five points from the bench, but also led the Aggies at the boards with six rebounds and had a team-high of three assists. Junior
Jake Regier led Panhandle's starters with six points from two threes. Lafayette's leading scorer was forward Bryce Washington who earned the game's only double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Coach Olson was disappointed with the overall effort displayed and said this after the game, "We just did not compete well. I don't think they (Lafayette) even knew we were there." The Aggies' head coach went on to say, "We did not defend at all and didn't play hard enough. They (Lafayette) did whatever they wanted. We have got to get tougher to be able to compete in our league."
The Aggies continue road play next week with a matchup closer to home as they take on West Texas A&M in Canyon on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. The team returns to the Oscar Williams Field House for a post-Thanksgiving home game on Saturday, Nov. 26 against Bethel College at 7 p.m.
