CLAREMORE, Okla. – On a night when six Rogers State senior men played their final game in the Claremore Expo, the Hillcats fell to Oklahoma City University, 80-77, Saturday evening.
Charlton Jones' desperation heave as time expired from 28-feet banked off the backboard and in to sink the hearts of the Hillcats. Jones had a game high 25 points but the most costly bucket from the OCU guard came as time expired after RSU senior guard Ken Holdman's floater from six feet dropped in to tie the game 77-77 with three seconds remaining.
The Hillcats led by as many as 17 points in the first stanza of play and held a 47-34 advantage at the intermission. A slow start to the second half hurt RSU as OCU opened on a 19-6 run to tie the contest at 53-53 with 13:36 remaining. The tie would be knotted up four times over the next nine minutes of action.
OCU built the lead out to six points in the final 25 seconds of play but a pair of Donald Williams free throws followed by four points by Holdman and a shot at the Stars in overtime. But Jones and OCU had other plans delivering RSU its eighth loss in conference play this year.
Senior Donald Williams led RSU with 21 points while senior teammate Justynn Hammond finished with 19. Holdman, a one-year senior for the Hillcats, totaled 17 points and senior Alex Ewings closed out his four-year career with 11 points as the Hillcats shot 53.7 percent from the field. RSU out-rebounded the Stars 30-27, as senior center Brian Gibson pulled down seven boards, as the Cats forced OCU into 13 turnovers resulting in 13 Hillcat points off turnovers. Senior guard Kendrell Thompson, who was held out due to an injury suffered earlier in the season, was honored for his two-seasons on the Hill.
Tonight's loss closes out the regular season for Rogers State (20-10, 8-8) as the Hillcats will travel to Shawnee, Okla. for the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament hosted by Oklahoma Baptist. The tournament kicks off with play-in games for the eight and nine seeds Wednesday, Feb. 27 with the opening round starting Thursday, Feb. 28. Seedings and game times will be announced the evening of Sunday, Feb. 24. RSU Radio and the Hillcat Network will have complete coverage of the Hillcats' games throughout the postseason.
