BETHANY, Okla. – No. 6 Rogers State men's basketball topped the 70 point mark for the 18th time this season as the Hillcats held onto victory over No. 15 Southern Nazarene 80-74 inside the Sawyer Center Saturday evening.
RSU held the lead from start to finish over the Crimson Storm as the Hillcats were able to build a 41-26 lead in the opening half. The Cats held its largest lead of the contest up 18 points with 3:15 remaining in the first half off a pair of free throws by Alex Ewings.
The Hillcats held a double-digit lead until a dunk by Ryan Aaron cut the RSU lead to 60-51 with 9:15 remaining. The final field goal by the Cats came with 2:04 to go on a Donald Williams 3-pointer to go up 72-61. RSU converted its free throws down the stretch, despite shooting 64.5 percent from the stripe in the game, to win 80-74.
Ryan Aaron led all scorers tallying 30 points for Southern Nazarene (17-7, 10-6). Chipping in 13 apiece were Aaron Jones and Jon West. Daniel White finished 10 points for SNU as the Crimson Storm shot 75 percent from the free throw line and 25 percent on treys.
Leading the Hillcats in scoring was Kendrell Thompson with 18 points. Donald Williams finished with 17 points while Larry Cox posted 16 points as RSU hit 42 percent from long distance.
RSU out-rebounded the Crimson Storm 45-36. Point guard Maurice Rutherford hauled in seven rebounds putting him over the 300 career rebound plateau at 301 for the veteran guard. With the victory the Cats moved to 17-1 on the season when scoring over 70 points in a contest.
Rogers State (18-4, 11-4) holds onto sole possession of second place in the SAC and hits the road Thursday to face Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, Okla. for an 8 p.m. tip. Live audio streaming can be heard at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
