ALVA, Okla. - Rogers State men's basketball couldn't overcome sloppy play in the first half as Northwestern Oklahoma State held on to defeat the Hillcats 69-62 in a crucial Sooner Athletic Conference contest.
RSU held the lead only once, coming in the first two minutes of the contest as Larry Cox knocked down two free throws giving the Cats a two point advantage. The Rangers responded going on a 15-5 run over the next 7:30, fueled by the play of Orren Tims as he dropped 12 points in the first stanza. NWOSU entered the intermission with the lead 29-23.
The Hillcats opened the second half cold, as Cox knocked in the only field goal for RSU in the opening four minutes of the period. Northwestern built the largest lead of the game to 16 off a Marshall Bell 3-pointer with 13:36 left.
Head Coach Justin Barkley responded by orchestrating a full-court press spearheaded by the play of Brandon Mims and Alex Ewings off the bench defensively. Offensively the Cats went on a 14-0 run started by a Ewings 3-pointer, followed by seven points by Matt Kellogg and capped off by four points from Maurice Rutherford. The three minute scoring display pulled RSU within two points of the host Rangers.
NWOSU responded with a 10-0 run of its own over the next four minutes as Marshall Bell displayed his 3-point shooting prowess knocking down three treys and building the Rangers lead back to 12. Another response by RSU cut the lead to one point for NWOSU with 3:23 remaining. A pair of Bell free throws built the Rangers lead to 10 with 49 seconds in the game and the Rangers held on for the 69-62 victory.
John Boyd led the Hillcats in scoring with 18 points coming off the bench. Maurice Rutherford registered his first career double-double with 10 points and a career high 12 rebounds. The Hillcats were perfect from the charity stripe but had a season high 20 turnovers. Barkley's team shot 34 percent from the field for the contest.
Marshall Bell set an individual season high for points with 31 for NWOSU. He also set a career high with six 3-pointers. Tims rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Rangers with 19.
Rogers State (12-9, 8-6) will return to the Claremore Expo Thursday evening welcoming No. 9 Oklahoma Baptist. The game is set to tip at 8 p.m. and will be carried on RSU Radio 91.3FM and RSU Public Television.
