CLAREMORE, Okla. - For the second time this season Rogers State saw a victory over a highly ranked opponent snatched from its grasp in the final seconds as the Hillcats were bounced 62-61 by No. 11 Southern Nazarene at the Claremore Expo Saturday.
 

Brandon Durham drove the length of the floor and scored a layup with four seconds left to give the Crimson Storm the win and send the majority of the 1,225 fans at the Claremore Expo home disappointed. The Hillcats held a one-point lead with 10 seconds left when junior James Coats missed two free throws. Milorad Damjanac grabbed the rebound and passed it to Durham who did the rest.
 

Back in December the Hillcats were stunned by then-No.1 Oklahoma City when the Stars Ollie Bailey converted a last second putback to sink RSU. OCU and SNU are tied atop the Sooner Athletic Conference standing with two weeks remaining the regular season.
 

Junior Roderick Rodgers put the Cats in position to win the game with his best performance of the season. The Dallas native scored a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Rodgers buried an 18-foot jumper with 44 seconds remaining in the game to give RSU a one-point lead. However, it would be the final basket of the night for the Hillcats.
 

Brent Kimmel missed a 3-point attempt with 22 seconds remaining and Rodgers hauled in the rebound. After a timeout, RSU broke the Storm's full-court press and Coats was fouled with 10 seconds showing on the game clock. Statistically, Coats entered the game as RSU's second leading free throw shooter at 70-percent. However the Eastern Junior College transfer had only attempted 10 free throws on the season before toeing the line in the final seconds. Both of Coats attempts were strong off the back iron, setting the stage for Durham's coast-to-coast bucket.
 

RSU came from nine points down at the midway point of the second half to take the lead. Aldric Reynolds capped an 11-3 run by the Hillcats to cut the SNU lead to 54-53 on a traditional 3-point-play with five minutes remaining. Sylvester Spicer converted a bucket in the paint with 2:21 left to put the Cats in front for the first time in the second half, 59-58. Kimmel regained the lead for the Storm with two free throws on the next possession and the lead held up until Rodgers long jumper found the bottom of the net with under a minute to play.
 

Earl Isaacson scored 14 first half points for SNU and propelled the Crimson Storm to a 32-25 halftime advantage. Issacson was held to just four points in the second half and was the only SNU player to reach double figures with 18 points. Junior Abram Donlon scored 13 points for the Hillcats. However, Bryson Krueger, who had averaged 20 points over the previous four games, was held to just two points by the Storm.
 

Rogers State (15-8, 10-7) fell back into a tie with Oklahoma Baptist for fourth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings after the loss. The Hillcats also had their season-best six-game winning streak snapped by SNU. RSU will close out the home portion of its schedule against John Brown Monday night at the Claremore Expo. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. and the game will be aired live on RSU Public Television and RSU Radio 91.3 FM.