SAN ANTONIO – Rogers State men's basketball (10-3) stunned No. 9 North Georgia (9-2) with a 67-52 win in their first game of the River City Holiday Classic on Tuesday.
 
"This was an enormous win for us," said Head Coach Justin Barkley. "Our defense was the difference today. Attention to detail against great programs like North Georgia is what you must have if you want to have success. Still, we need 40 minutes of team basketball tomorrow to get what we need out of this tournament."
 
This was RSU's first win over a top 10 opponent and eighth overall win against a ranked team in the Division II Era.
 
Anthony Marshall Jr. led all scorers with a season-high 21 points to go with two assists, two steals and a rebound. Kofi Hamilton added 14 points with four rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Jabryn Anderson contributed nine points with a team-high five rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with five lead changes and two ties. The Nighthawks controlled the game early as they opened on an 8-4 run. However, the Hillcats quickly responded with five-straight points to take their first lead at 9-8 with 10:30 left in the period. From there the two sides traded buckets for the next few minutes, but RSU came out on top and pushed out to their largest lead of the half at 28-22 with just over a minute and a half left. They eventually held on to carry a 30-26 advantage into the break.
 
The second half remained close in the early moments as UNG managed to cut the lead down to one point at 36-35 four minutes into the period. However, the Hillcats began to pull away thanks to a 9-2 run that put them back up 45-37. RSU continued to build on their momentum as they used a 12-6 run to take their first double-digit lead of the day at 58-48 with 5:36 left. They took their largest lead of the game at 65-49 with just over four minutes left and eventually claimed the 67-52 victory.
 
The Hillcats will look to carry their momentum into tomorrow as they close out the tournament against Missouri-St. Louis. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.