CLAREMORE, Okla. – Five Hillcat seniors played their final game inside the Claremore Expo Thursday night and it was the play of four juniors that gave No. 10 Rogers State an 89-81 victory over No. 23 Southern Nazarene.
RSU and SNU were tied seven times in the opening stanza including four times in the final eight minutes of the period. The Cats looked to be heading into the intermission with a five point lead following a block by Justynn Hammond on Tyrone Lyons dunk attempt leading to a Kenny Edwards put back dunk. The Crimson Storm answered with a 3-pointer by Horace McGloster as time expired to enter the half, RSU up 41-39.
The Hillcats built a 10 point advantage with 8:32 remaining in the game on an Edwards slam dunk off a Hammond assist to lead 69-59. SNU trimmed the Cats lead to three points with 4:49 to go on a Lyons layup, the closest the Crimson Storm would get the remainder of the game. RSU held off a full court press and hit free throws down the stretch as the Hillcats hit 73 percent from the line on the game for the win, 89-81.
Jon West led all scorers with 26 points drilling 10-of-10 from the charity stripe for the Crimson Storm. Southern Nazarene (20-9, 13-8) hit 35.3 percent on treys and out-rebounded the Cats 41-33. SNU had four players total double-digit scoring including West.
Coach Justin Barkley started all five seniors in Joey Twilley, Jeremy Marseille, Larry Cox, Meneptha Darden and Maurice Rutherford. Marseille finished with one point while Darden chipped in six points to go with three blocks. Twilley was off the mark on his lone field goal attempt from deep while Maurice Rutherford tallied a season-high seven points and finished with three steals. Cox was amongst five Hillcats scoring in double-figures as the senior forward closed out his career inside the Claremore with 13 points.
Kendrell Thompson led the Cats in scoring with 18 points while Alex Ewings posted 14 points and six boards. Justynn Hammond and Donald Williams posted 12 each in the scoring column as RSU hit 50.8 percent from long distance. The Hillcats outscored SNU off the bench 62-7.
Rogers State (22-6, 15-6) heads into the final game of the regular season on Saturday vs. USAO in Chickasha, Okla. The game is set to tip at 5 p.m. and live audio streaming will be carried at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
