DALLAS, Texas – No. 5 Rogers State opened up the Dallas dosey doe with an 81-65 victory over Paul Quinn College inside the Tigers Den Wednesday night.
RSU built a 21-9 lead in the opening 5:30 of the contest. Alex Ewings closed out the first half with seven points by his lonesome to give the Cats a 43-21 lead at the intermission. Ewings led the way with a career high 19 points tallying 10 points in the opening stanza off the bench to lead the Hillcat scoring. The junior guard 7-of-11 from the field and was 4-of-7 from the charity stripe.
The Hillcats built their largest lead to 30 off a Kenny Edwards field goal with 11:34 to go. PQC cut the RSU lead below 20 with 2:59 remaining, 74-55. The Tigers were able to chip the lead down to a 14 point deficit with 40 seconds remaining but an Alex Ewings layup put the tally at its final mark 81-65.
The Tigers never held claimed the lead as Nafis Richardson led all scorers with 27 points. Aaron McCuin added 11 points for PQC as the Tigers nabbed 17 steals.
RSU turned the ball over 29 times but outrebounded PQC 54-15. A.J. Stewart tallied 16 points and eight rebounds. Guard Donald Williams posted 16 points going 3-of-5 from long distance. Justynn Hammond led the Hillcats with 12 rebounds as the point guard finished with eight points and six assists but also six turnovers.
Rogers State (10-0) will quickly turn around for the second half of the Dallas dosey doe, facing Dallas Christian College at 7 p.m.