CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State men's basketball team used free throws to surge past Texas A&M International for a 78-71 Heartland Conference victory at the Claremore Expo Center Thursday night.
 
Entering the game ranked in the top five in the country in free throw shooting, the Hillcats capitalized on their opportunities from the charity stripe hitting 34-of-47 attempts outscoring TAMIU by a wide 34-9 margin to remain a perfect 5-0 at home this season.
 
The Dustdevils were spot on from long range early hitting three from behind the arc for a quick 11-2 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest and increased the margin to nine points, 23-14, with 9:36 remaining in the opening half.
 
J.C. Hartzler kick started the Hillcat offense as RSU erased the deficit and took its first lead of the night, 24-23, behind a 10-0 scoring run as the junior scored seven points during the stretch. The teams went back and forth until the halftime buzzer as the first stanza featured four ties and five lead changes with the Cats holding a five-point cushion, 39-34, at the break.
 
Hartzler opened the second half with an old-fashioned, three-point play but TAMIU answered with the next five points cutting the deficit to three points. RSU stretched its lead to double digits over the next four minutes as Frederico Santos scored six points on an 8-2 run capped by two free throws for a 56-46 lead.
 
The margin swelled to as many as 15 points with four minutes to play before the Dustdevils made things interesting as Patrick Carlson scored eight-consecutive points over a 21-second span closing the gap to seven points, 76-69, in the final minute. The Hillcats held on for their second win in conference play and first-ever against TAMIU in three meetings since joining the league.
 
Hartzler led all scorers with a season-high 20 points pacing five Hillcats in double figures while DesJuan Newton (15), Santos (13), Donald Moore (11), and Deran Banton (10) also hit double digits. Santos added a game-high nine rebounds for RSU.
 
Carlson led TAMIU with 17 points making five three-pointers as the Dustdevils had four reach double figures shooting 12-of-24 from downtown.
 
Rogers State (8-5, 2-3 HC) is back on the hardwood Saturday facing St. Mary's for a 3 p.m. contest. The game can be found live on the Hillcat Network with free audio and video at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and also on the airwaves at RSU Radio 91.3 FM.