CLAREMORE, Okla. – It was Senior Night for the Rogers State men's basketball team, but it was a junior that stole the spotlight as Deran Banton came off the bench and seemingly scored at will for a career-high 34 points as the Hillcats downed Oklahoma Panhandle State, 93-78, Thursday night at the Claremore Expo.

Banton's point total came on a near perfect shooting performance where the Jamaica, N.Y., native hit 13-of-16 from the floor and 4-of-5 from behind the arc. The 34 points are the second-highest in single-game history for the Hillcats.

RSU closed its home schedule honoring five seniors by avenging a loss at OPSU earlier this season using high-pressure defense that forced the Aggies into 23 turnovers leading to 28 points.

The first half began as a tightly-contested affair featuring seven lead changes and three ties with the Aggies building a 16-10 advantage at the midpoint of the opening stanza before the Hillcats took a 41-39 lead into the halftime break.

RSU gained control of the game scoring the first seven points of the second half and stretched the lead to 60-48 after J.C. Hartzler got a steal and quickly found Banton for a breakaway dunk with 14:57 remaining in the contest.

The Hillcats' advantage swelled to 20 points twice down the stretch as RSU was not stopped from driving to the basket outscoring OPSU 55-20 in the paint.

Seniors Damion Hooks and Robinson Odoch Opong joined Banton in double figures netting 18 and 16 points, respectively, while fellow senior Jerry Dixon dished out six assists, including several that got the crowd to its feet. Josh May scored six points while Ritchi Mundende added two in their final games at the Expo.

Zilijan Jones led three Aggies in double figures with 20 points as Bill Lee, Jr. and Jeremy Newton added 14 and 13, respectively. OPSU got off to a hot start shooting hitting 7-of-14 three pointers in the first half but hit only 2-of-12 in the second.