ALTUS -- Before their season began, the Western Oklahoma State men's basketball team said it wanted to be tested early. After having a cakewalk last year in the first half of the season, the Pioneers wanted to make sure they knew what they had to work with heading into the meat of its schedule.

After Tuesday's 91-58 defeat to Carl Albert State College, the Pioneers now know they still have a long row to hoe. Western was so soundly defeated that it almost left coach Jerry Kaisen speechless when he was asked how his team played.

"When you get beat the way we did," Kaisen said, "I don't know how to answer that."

Except for spurts in the first half, Western never really threatened the Vikings. Carl Albert was able to weather every run WOSC threw at them before running away with the victory.

"They didn't play bad," said Carl Albert coach Mike St. John of his team. "We got a good start and that has been our problem here of late. Just haven't been getting out of the gate. Tonight we got a decent start and that gave us a little confidence."

In the first half Western could not find its shooting touch. They were missing shots from point-blank range.

However, despite their lack of shooting prowess, the Pioneers attacked the boards with a vengeance and played solid defense. Marques Baldwin, Chris Gaines and Cedric Horace went after every rebound that came off the rim.

The Pioneers trailed 21-13 before closing to within four points. They looked like they were on the verge of snatching the lead away from the visiting squad. But five consecutive turnovers allowed Carl Albert to expand its advantage to 32-21.

"We have only played one game at home," St. John said. "This is our ninth game. So you know people are going to make a run. It's their house. You expect that. The key is just not to panic and just keep doing what we are doing and defend people."

The turnovers kept coming the rest of the first half as the Pioneers went scoreless in the final four minutes. Carl Albert led a dejected Western squad 42-21 at the half.

"Man we couldn't hang onto the ball like it was hot," Kaisen said. "It was a problem tonight."

The second half was not any prettier. The Pioneers scored five points in the first eight minutes.

Scoring was not a problem for Carl Albert, though. The Vikings were able to get off any shot they wanted as they quickly increased their lead to 41 points.

The game got out of hand in the opening 10 minutes and Western could do nothing to get it back under control.

"We just didn't pass the ball and take care of it," Kaisen said. "Simple as that."

WOSC got 13 points from Baldwin. No other player reached double figures. Both Bashir Grimes and Jahmar Thorpe added eight points.

Carl Albert's Juan Lopez dropped a game-high 23 points, with 19 of them coming in the second half. Dannie Powell added 17 while Anthony Sims chipped in with 16.

Western drops to 4-3 on the season. They will travel to Carl Albert on Sunday in a rematch with the Vikings.

However, if the Pioneers are unable to turn their game around, that game could end the same way as this one.

"I want to see us keep it in the 50s," Kaisen said, "pass the basketball, don't overload our defense, screen and cut and take care of the ball."