STILLWATER, Okla. - Rogers State stood toe-to-toe with a respected NCAA Division I team for the second time in as many meetings this season and didn't blink.
The Hillcats hung right with Oklahoma State for 40 minutes in Stillwater Monday night but, the Cowboys were able to hold on for a 62-53 win in front of an announced crowd of 12,963 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Freshman standout James Anderson led all scorers with 15 points. The Cowboys hit six free throws in the final 1:11 to seal the victory.
"I'm proud of the way our kids competed tonight," RSU Head Coach Wren Baker. "We didn't have our best night offensively but we never gave up. They played hard and this was a good experience for our team."
RSU led the Cowboys for the first six minutes of the game and trailed 27-25 with four minutes left in the half. OSU responded by closing the half on a 9-0 run capped by an Anderson trey right before the buzzer.
The Hillcats were plagued by poor shooting in the first half. RSU shot just 35-percent from the field and connected on only 3-of-8 free throws. Despite the offensive woes, the Hillcats only trailed 36-25 at the break.
The Cowboys controlled the first eight minutes of the second half and built a 47-30 lead with 11:31 remaining in the game. However, RSU wouldn't go quietly. The Cats clawed their way back into the game and cut the lead to single digits with less than two minutes to play. OSU slowed its pace on the offensive end and made enough free throws down the stretch to avoid the upset.
"We knew that they (RSU) were going to come out excited and play hard," OSU Head Coach Sean Sutton said. "Our guys had respect for them. This is a team that was within eight points of ORU with four minutes to go."
RSU didn't fare much better shooting the ball in the second half. The Hillcats shot 35-percent but managed to knockdown 13-of-18 free throws. The smaller RSU lineup was outrebounded 35-to-33 by the Cowboys but owned a 13-to-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
Roderick Rodgers led the Hillcats with 12 points followed by Eric Young with 11. Sylvester Spicer followed up his 24-point effort on Saturday with nine points and 10 rebounds against the Cowboys.
It was a bittersweet homecoming for Baker who served on the OSU basketball staff for four seasons under Coach Eddie Sutton.
"It felt good to be back," Baker said after the game. "It felt a little strange coming out of the visitor's locker room but I got see a lot of people and I enjoyed it. They have some great people here."
Sean Sutton praised Baker for his team's performance.
"Wren's done a really good job with them," Sutton said. "They play good defense and they play hard. They did a good job of staying in it by pounding the ball inside and getting to the free throw line."
Although the win counts for the Cowboys, the game was denoted as an exhibition for the Hillcats. Rogers State (8-3, 3-2) returns to conference play this week for road games at Southern Nazarene and USAO. The Cats and Crimson Storm will tip-off Thursday at 8 p.m. The game can be heard live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
