FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Rogers State men's basketball team found redemption in their final game of  2014, registering a 72-68 victory over University of Arkansas Fort Smith on Thursday night at the Stubblefield Center.
 
RSU fell to the Lions at the buzzer at UAFS to close out the season last spring. However, Thursday night the Hillcats clawed their way to victory in comeback fashion.  Trailing by 11 points with less than eight minutes to play, the Hillcats chipped away at the deficit with a 6-0 run. RSU continues to slice the Lion lead with an 8-2 run capped by a Donald Moore three-pointer with 3:30 to play to cut the deficit to 62-61. RSU took its first lead of the game with a conventional three-point play by Frederico Santos with one minute to play. RSU pushed the advantage to five points with nine seconds remaining but Seth Youngblood kept things interesting, knocking down a trey to cut the RSU lead to two.  Moore knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the four-point win for RSU.
 
Desjuan Newton ignited the Hillcat attack from the tip with a trey to start the game followed by a steal and two made free throws, giving RSU a 5-0 advantage.  The Lions battled back to knot the score 10-10 and led by as many as five points in the half. RSU outscored UAFS 6-2 to round out the half, leaving the score knotted at 35-35 as the teams went to the locker room at the break.
 
Santos led the Hillcats in scoring with 20 points and seven boards with two steals on the night. J.C. Hartzler posted 14 points while Newton and Moore added 12 points apiece and Moore tallied a game-high five steals. RSU edged the Lions on the boards 37-35.
 
DaVaunta Thomas led UAFS in scoring with 22 points.
 

Rogers State (7-3) returns to the hardwood on January 1st as the Hillcats travel to the University of Texas Permian Basin for a Heartland Conference matchup at 7:30 p.m.  Live audio is available -on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and on RSU Radio 91.3 FM