CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State men's basketball out fought Wayland Baptist Saturday afternoon inside the Claremore Expo for a 68-64 Hillcat victory.
Coach Justin Barkley's squad went on a 12-3 run in the first half, topped off by a Joey Twilley free throw, to garner its largest lead of the game at 9. WBU responded with an 8-0 run of its own putting the score at 33-32 with 3:26 remaining in the first stanza. RSU was able to cushion the lead at 4 heading into the half off a jumper by John Boyd.
The second half saw the Hillcats and Pioneers tie the score six times. Wayland Baptist claimed its largest lead of the game at three off a George Williams' 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining in the contest. A Bobby Watkins free throw tied the game for the eighth and final time at the 1:48 mark. Brandon Mims and Boyd hit a pair of free throws giving the Cats a four point advantage with 49 seconds left.
The Pioneers immediately responded and cut the Hillcat lead in half off a Johnny Terra fade-away jumper from the baseline. George Williams' floater with 23 seconds remaining put RSU up by one. Boyd knocked down the first of two free throws stretching the Cats lead to two. Williams missed a 3-pointer from the right wing and Chris Francis hauled in the rebound. Francis nailed both of his free shots and put the game on ice, giving RSU the 68-64 win.
Wayland Baptist sent RSU to the charity stripe 10 times in the final two minutes and Barkley's team hit eight of them. For the game RSU shot 77 percent from the stripe. The two teams combined for 38 fouls, heading to the line 46 times.
Boyd led the Hillcats in scoring with 18 while Deveric Taylor chipped in 10 and Matt Kellogg dropped in 14. The Cats nabbed six steals and six blocks on the night.
Wayland Baptist's Rodrigo Silva had 11 points in the first period finishing with 19 for the game. Williams finished with 17 points and Watkins rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Pioneers with 10. Wayland Baptist (6-11, 1-9) hit 25 percent from behind the arc and was abysmal from the charity stripe shooting 42 percent.
Rogers State (10-7, 6-4) will complete a three game home stand on Thursday, Jan. 20, with the University of Science and Arts coming to the Claremore Expo. Game time is set for 8 p.m. and will be carried on RSU Public Television and RSU Radio 91.3FM.
