LUBBOCK, Texas - Rogers State earned its second championship in as many weeks with an 83-68 victory over the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Saturday night in Lubbock, Texas.
 

The No. 1 Hillcats jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first half and cruised to their 17th consecutive win to claim the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament championship at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.
 

"I thought they played like a team that wanted to win a championship tonight," Head Coach Lloyd Williams said. "I felt like they weren't going to let anything get in there way."
 

For the third night in a row RSU dominated the first half of play. After falling behind 13-7, the Hillcats ripped off an 18-0 run to leave the Drovers in the dust. Sylvester Spicer capped the streak with a rim-rocking jam to push the lead to 33-16 with 3:44 remaining in the period.
 

RSU turned defense into offense with 19 points off turnovers before the intermission. Chris Francis swiped four of the Cats 12 steals in the first half. The sophomore guard scored 12 points while Eric Young added 14. Young's pull-up jumper beat the halftime buzzer to push the lead to 45-25 at the break.
 

"The way we played on defense in that first half was beautiful to watch," Williams said. "The whole key to our defense is communication and there were five guys talking the whole time and when we do that we're really tough to beat."
 

Eli Flores accounted for 12 of his game-high 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half for USAO. The Drovers shot just 39 percent from the floor and committed 15 turnovers.
 

The Hillcats never felt threatened in the second half despite being outscored by five points. Tim Nelson cut the lead to single digits with a long trey at the three-minute mark, but Spicer answered with a turnaround jumper at the other end to squash any thoughts of a late rally. Spicer was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 18 points over three games for RSU.
 

"It gave me chills when they called his name out for MVP because he's been through so much these last couple of months," Williams said. "He played like a man possessed this whole weekend and it couldn't have happened to a better kid."
 

Francis and Young joined Spicer on the all-tournament team. Francis tallied a career-high 16 points while Young poured in 23 in the finale. Young was also awarded the tournament's "hustle award" for his tenacity on both ends of the floor.
 

The Hillcats had just nine turnovers in the contest and shot 48 percent from the floor. USAO won the rebounding battle, 37-32, but was ultimately done in by its inability to handle RSU's pressure defense. The Drovers coughed up 18 turnovers leading to 24 points for the Cats. Senior Roderick Rodgers filled the stat sheet with eight points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
 

Rogers State (30-1) locked up the No. 1 overall seed in the NAIA National Tournament with the victory. The Hillcats claimed their first postseason conference championship just one week removed from winning their first regular season title.
 

The NAIA National Tournament is scheduled for March 18-24, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. First round pairing and game times will be announced Wednesday afternoon by the NAIA.