CLAREMORE, Okla. - The Rogers State men's basketball team started the New Year with a 90-74 Heartland Conference victory over Dallas Baptist inside the Claremore Expo.
Sophomore J.C. Hartzler spurred the Hillcats to victory with a career-high 26 points, going a flawless 6-for-6 from behind the arc. In the first frame, neither team established a comfortable lead until the 6:41 mark when Hartzler ignited a 12-2 run with a layup. During the spurt, five different Hillcats scored and RSU pushed its lead to 13 points with four minutes to play in the half. The double digit lead was short-lived as DBU's Myles Johnson took over tallying 10-staight points for the Patriots to cut the Hillcat lead to four points with two minutes to play in the half. The Hillcats clung to the single digit lead for the remainder of the stanza, taking a 43-40 advantage into the locker room at the break.
RSU opened the second frame with back-to-back buckets and pushed its lead to 10 points with a jumper by Jeylyn Sharpe with 15 minutes to play. DBU battled back and cut the deficit to seven points with a pair of made free throws by Jonathan Perry but Hartzler and Jonathan Buckley answered with consecutive treys to push the RSU lead to 13 points and it was all RSU the rest of the way.
Hartzler was joined by three other Hillcats in double digit scoring as Jerry Dixon tallied 17 points, Sharpe poured in 14 points and Damion Hook registered 10 points. Despite tallying just six points in the contest, Robinson Odoch Opong grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Cats shot 64.7 percent from long distance on the night and 47.2 percent from the field. RSU owned the boards, outrebounding DBU, 40-27.
Johnson led the Patriots in scoring with 21 points on the night. DBU shot 50 percent from three point range in the first half but were 3-13 from long distance in the second frame to finish shooting 36 percent from behind the arc. They shot 42.1 percent from the field and 68 percent for the charity stripe.
With the win, Head Coach Justin Barkley reached his 75th career win at the helm of the Hillcats. The four-year head coach owns just over half of the RSU men's basketball program's total wins with a 75-36 career record.
Rogers State (8-4, 3-1) returns to the hardwood on Saturday as the Hillcats host Oklahoma Christian at 3 p.m. inside the Claremore Expo. The game will be streamed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.
