LUBBOCK, Texas - Rogers State withstood a titanic second half comeback by John Brown to hold on for an 87-85 win Friday night and advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference championship game at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.
 

The top-ranked Hillcats gave up a season-high 55 second-half points as the Golden Eagles torched the nets to the tune of 70 percent shooting in the period. Senior Aldric Reynolds was nails for RSU, scoring 16 second-half points to key the victory. He buried four treys in the second stanza and calmly hit two free throws with 15 seconds showing on the game clock.
 

"Al really stepped up and hit some of the biggest shots of his career tonight," Head Coach Lloyd Williams said following the game.
 

The Hillcats' Jekyll and Hyde effort mirrored their performance in Thursday's quarterfinal against Lubbock Christian. RSU dominated the first half and led 44-30 at the break. John Brown connected on only eight of its 32 field goal attempts in the first half.

However, the second half was a drastically different story. The Golden Eagles methodically chipped away at the Hillcat lead over the first ten minutes of the second half. Davaughn Jackson hit two free throws to cut the margin to four with 10:24 remaining. Reynold's stretched the lead back to eight with a wing three at the six minute mark.
 

Wes Brown barreled inside for a tough basket to make it a one-possession game at 79-76. Cody Page added two free throws and suddenly it was a one-point contest with 1:45 remaining. Reynold's responded once again, knocking down a deep trey with the shot clock winding down to put the Cats on top, 82-78.
 

JBU's Jarrett McGriff connected on a long two from the corner to bring the Eagles back to within two. Reynold's was fouled on the ensuing possession and found the bottom of the net on both attempts from the charity stripe, pushing the advantage back to four at 86-82.
 

The Golden Eagles made one more run at the Hillcats when Page dropped in a deep 3 with six seconds left to cut the margin to one. Matt Kellogg was immediately fouled and settled for 1 of 2 at the line. McGriff got off a clean look from 25 feet at the buzzer, but it fell short of the iron and the Hillcats held on for the 16th straight win.
 

Page and McGriff combined for 28 second-half points as JBU outscored RSU by 12 in the period. Page topped all scorers with 24 points while Sylvester Spicer led the Hillcats with 20. Reynolds scored 19 points and Eric Young tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds for RSU.
 

Rogers State (29-1) advanced to the championship game of the SAC tournament for the first time in the program's two-year history. The Hillcats will play either Oklahoma Christian or the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Saturday night for the tournament title. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be carried live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.