OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Rogers State men's basketball team ended its run in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament with a, 90-48, loss to No. 2 seeded and 15th-ranked Southern Nazarene in the semifinals on Saturday evening at Abe Lemons Arena on the campus of Oklahoma City University.
The Hillcats triple overtime victory less than 24 hours prior to the semifinal contest caught up to them as they did not have enough gas in the tank to handle the Crimson Storm. The loss marks the worst deficit in program history. Prior to tonight defeat, the worst loss came at the hands of SNU as the Cats suffered a 26-point deficit on Jan. 21, 2010 at the Sawyer Center.
The Crimson Storm led from start to finish. They opened the game with an 8-0 lead and never looked back. C.J. Henry poured in 10 first half points and SNU built a 22 point lead at the break. In the second stanza, the Storm used a 26- 8 run to push the lead to 41 points with 11 minutes to play and held the advantage the rest of the way.
Francis led the Cats with 11 points and two steals. Kellogg was the only other Hillcat to finish with double digits as he scored 11 points; nine came in the second half. The Hillcats shot 15 percent from long distance, a season-low 21 percent from the field and 71 percent from the charity stripe.
Daniel White led the Storm with 18 points. SNU shot an impressive 61 percent from 3-point range, 48 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free throw line.
No. 25 Rogers State (20-11, 15-7) will find out its postseason fate on Wednesday, March 8 as the NAIA will announce the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship field of 32. The Championship begins March 16th and runs through March 22 in Kansas City, Mo.
