CLAREMORE, Okla. – Despite another earthquake occurring in Oklahoma Monday night, the Rogers State men's basketball team rocked the rims and shook off Central Bible College in a 92-71 victory inside the Claremore Expo.
RSU started slow, even trailing the Spartans six minutes into the contest at 14-13. But the Hillcats quickly turned things around, outscoring CBC 16-4 over the next four minutes to take a 29-18 lead. RSU led at the intermission 44-35.
The Hillcats answered the call in the second half with more inspired play, shaking CBC into 14 turnovers in the stanza. The Spartans finished with 19 turnovers in the game while RSU turned it over 13 times.
The increased defense led to quick scoring opportunities for the Hillcats as they built the lead to 24 points with 12 minutes remaining. The Cats and Spartans traded jabs with CBC cutting the Hillcat lead to around 21 point for the final five minutes. A field goal by A.J. Stewart with 46 seconds remaining put the score at its final mark of 92-71.
Central Bible College (1-2) was led in scoring by Joey Kreuter with 19 as the junior guard pulled in 12 rebounds. Terence Culler was the only other Spartan in double figures with 16 points.
RSU was led by Kendrell Thompson with 17 points. The Houston, Texas native went 6-10 from the field and 3-5 from behind the arc. Four other Hillcats reached double figures in scoring. Larry Cox tallied 14 points while fellow senior Joey Twilley added 12. Donald Williams and Meneptha Darden dropped in 10 points each. Darden also snagged 15 rebounds and blocked two shots to register the first double-double of his Hillcat career.
The Hillcats shot 47 percent from the field, struggling from the charity stripe hitting just 52 percent. RSU blocked 8 shots and pulled in 50 rebounds as a team while nabbing 14 steals.
CBC shot 39 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free throw line but the undersized Spartans were able to grab 42 boards.
Rogers State (2-0) will return to the Claremore Expo court Saturday for Homecoming at 4 p.m. taking on Ozark Christian College. The game will be carried live on www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
