CLAREMORE, Okla. - Rogers State men's basketball clung to victory Thursday night inside the Claremore Expo for a 78-73 win over the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
Deveric Taylor's commanding performance made the difference as Rogers State came back from a 42-34 halftime deficit to defeat the Drovers. The Dallas, Texas native scored a game high 31 points, 20 of those coming in the second half. The performance fell one point shy of the school record of 32 points set by Sylvester Spicer in 2009 and tied earlier this season against Huston-Tillotson by Matt Kellogg.
The Drovers jumped out to an early 20-10 lead off a Graham Faulkner 3-point basket with 10 minutes remaining. Faulkner knocked down a pair of free throws to give USAO a 12 point advantage their largest of the game. RSU was able to trim the Drover lead to three after a pair of free throws by Alex Ewings with just under four minutes left in the first period. A 3-pointer from the left wing by Thomas Peters at the buzzer, gave USAO the eight point lead at the intermission.
The second half Taylor put on a display of offensive prowess scoring buckets in a number of ways. A Taylor traditional 3-point play cut the Drover lead to two, just over two minutes into the second stanza. A basket from behind the arc by Taylor gave RSU a four point lead with 15:26 remaining.
USAO responded going on a 10-2 run capped off by another 3-point basket by Peters. RSU claimed the lead at 61-60 off a field goal by Taylor and the Cats led the remainder of the game.
It wasn't easy though despite the Hillcats building a nine point lead off a conventional 3-point play by Chris Francis. Sahlih Butts trimmed the Cats lead to seven but Taylor responded with a two-point basket extending the RSU lead with 2:39 remaining. Butts scored seven points in the final 2:30 of the contest and ended the night with 14.
A baseline jumper from 10-feet trimmed the Hillcat lead to three with 1:23 left on the clock. A hard drive and contested floater in the middle of the lane by Chris Francis put the score at its final mark of 78-73 as the Drovers were unable to knock down a trio of 3-pointers in the final 40 seconds.
Matt Kellogg was the only other Hillcat to reach double-figures finishing with 11 points and pulling in seven boards. Chris Francis added nine points and Larry Cox contributed eight as both came off the bench. Coach Justin Barkley's squad shot a measly 18 percent from long distance but won the battle on the boards with a 10 rebound advantage over USAO.
USAO (7-8, 3-6) was led in scoring by Thomas Peters with 16. Phillip Harris pitched in 15 points with Butts rounding out the double-digit trio with 14. The Drovers shot 42 percent from behind the arc but turned the ball over 15 times, eight of those the result of a Hillcat steals.
Rogers State (11-7, 7-4) will travel to Bethany, Okla. on Saturday to face No.13 Southern Nazarene. Tip-time is set for 8 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center and the game will be carried on RSU Radio 91.3FM.
