BETHANY, Okla. - March Madness officially arrived in Oklahoma Friday night as Rogers State pulled off its second upset in as many days with a 72-71 victory over No. 6 Southern Nazarene at the Sawyer Center in Bethany.
 

Sylvester Spicer showed the poise of a senior leader by calmly knocking down two free throws with less than three seconds remaining in the extra period. SNU's Vladimir Bulut got off a clean look from 3-point range at the buzzer, but it missed off the back iron. The Hillcats emerged victorious from a grueling battle and advanced to play in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game Saturday night.

RSU clung to a slim lead for the majority of regulation. Xavier Alexander tallied 11 points in the first half to keep the Crimson Storm close. The Hillcats led 33-31 at the half and opened up a six point advantage early in the second period. Two quick buckets by Alexander tied it at 55-55 with six minutes to play, but SNU was unable to take the lead.

The Hillcats held a two point advantage with 14 seconds remaining after Lance Sullivan made one of two free throws. Alexander held for the last shot and dropped in a reverse layup with three tics left to extend the game to overtime.

SNU grabbed a one-point lead on a long trey by Bulut midway through the overtime period. Sullivan put the Cats back in front with a driving layup with 47 seconds remaining. Bulut missed on a three from the corner, but Jon West came up with an offensive rebound and promptly put it through the net to give the Strom a 71-70 advantage with 14 seconds showing on the game clock.

RSU held for the final shot in the overtime period. Reggie Burnett made a strong move to the bucket, but couldn't find the hole. Spicer leaped over a mass of bodies in the paint to grab the rebound and was fouled with 2.6 seconds left on a put-back attempt.

A boisterous SNU crowd rose to its feet to distract Spicer. However, the chiseled forward refused to be denied. Spicer was 7 of 13 of the line for the night when he toed the stripe with his senior season on the line. Both attempts touched nothing but the bottom of the net and the Hillcats survived to fight for at least one more day.

Spicer led five RSU players in double figures with 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Sullivan scored 13 while Theo Davis and Deveric Taylor added 11 apiece. After shooting 57 percent during regulation, SNU was held to just 28 percent during the overtime period. Alexander led all scorers with 22 points, but shot just 8 for 17 from the charity stripe.

Rogers State (22-10) will face John Brown in the SAC Championship game Saturday evening. The Golden Eagles disposed of upstart Lubbock Christian with a 77-60 victory earlier Saturday evening. The winner of the championship game will receive an automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be carried live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.