OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Oklahoma City University came back from an 18-point deficit in the second half to knock off Rogers State, 73-72, at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City Saturday.

The Hillcats built a 15 point first half lead behind the strong play of senior postman Sylvester Spicer. Spicer tallied12 points in the opening period, including two 3-pointers. RSU shot an incredible 63.6-percent from the 3-point arc in the first half. Things seemed to be going right for the squad from Claremore as three Hillcats scored eight points a piece.

In the second half the 3-point shot seemed unattainable for the Hillcats as they shot only 20-percent from downtown. Theo Davis and Lance Sullivan were held scoreless in the last period of play after scoring eight points a piece in the opening half.

RSU appeared to pick up right where it left off by building the 15 point halftime advantage into an 18 point lead two minutes into the second stanza. However, the misses started to pile up for the Hillcats as they shot 34.6-percent in the second half from the field. Spicer, who lit up the Stars early in the first half, was held to four points and finished with 16.

The Stars slowly chipped away at the RSU lead and took their first lead of the second half with 1:16 remaining in the game on a free throw by Chris Brown. Brown led all scorers with 18 points.

The Hillcats had plenty of opportunities to reclaim the lead in the final minute. A costly turnover by Spicer seemed to be the final costly RSU mistake. But OCU was unable to capitalize, missing two tip-ins underneath the basket. Following a timeout, Lance Sullivan attacked the basket, but lost his balance while driving the lane and was forced to throw up an out of control shot at the backboard. The rebound bounced off a Stars player and RSU was awarded possession with only one-tenth of a second remaining. Sullivan attempted to inbound to Spicer, but the big man was unable to gain control of the pass as time expired.

Deveric Taylor added another eight points in the second half to tie Spicer with a team-high 16 points for the game. Forward John Boyd scored 14 points to round out the Hillcats with double-digit points. RSU finished shooting 50-percent from behind the arc and 45.6-percent from the field overall. OCU shot only 36.4-percent from 3-point range, but shot an impressive 75-percent from the charity stripe.

Guard Corey Bingham tallied 16 points for the Stars while Jerome Phillips scored 15. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for OCU was Kavon Lytch with 10 points.

Rogers State (15-8, 8-7) will travel to Shawnee, Okla., Thursday night to face No.2 Oklahoma Baptist. The game is being billed as the NAIA Game of the Week and collegefanz.com will carry a live video broadcast. The game will also be aired live on RSU Radio 91.3 FM.