SHAWNEE, Okla. – The No. 6 ranked Rogers State men's basketball team fell behind early and could not overcome the deficit as No. 3 Oklahoma Baptist registered the 66-57 victory on Thursday evening at Noble Complex in Shawnee.

OBU senior Emmanuel Wilson drained a long distance shot to start the game and followed with a second chance bucket after an RSU turnover to give the Bison a 5-0 advantage, forcing the Hillcats to take a time out 55 seconds into the contest. Things continued to go downhill for RSU as OBU led 15-2 with 12:27 to play in the half. The Hillcats cut the deficit to six points with a conventional three-point play by Meneptha Darden but the OBU lead quickly swelled to 16 points with an 18-8 run by the Bison. RSU tallied the final four points of the half to cut the deficit to 37-25 at the break.

RSU's 25 points is the lowest scoring affair in an opening half this season. The Cats shot just 39 percent from the field in the first frame while committing 10 turnovers.

RSU scored the first four points of the second half to cut the deficit to eight points with 15 minutes to play. With 11:11 to play in the game, Kendrell Thompson drove to the bucket and scored to cut the OBU lead to seven points but that was as close as the Hillcats would get to the lead.

Justynn Hammond was the only Hillcat to reach double digits scoring with 20 points. Deangelo McIntosh of OBU led all scorers with 23 points. Neither team shot the ball well on the night, as they were a combined 0-for-18 from behind the arc in the second stanza.

Rogers State (16-4, 9-4) will return to action on Saturday as the Hillcats face St. Gregory's at the Claremore Expo. The game is slated for 5 p.m. and will be streamed live at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.