CLAREMORE, Okla. – Jonathan Buckley blocked a game-tying bid by St. Mary's (Texas) with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation as Rogers State held on for a dramatic 62-58 victory Thursday night at the Claremore Expo in Heartland Conference action.

The Hillcats had a 60-58 advantage as the Rattlers' Marvin Binney drove to the right elbow with the shot clock about to expire and went up for an off-balance jumper but Buckley stayed right with him swatting the shot away.

J.C. Hartzler connected on a pair of free throws with 6.2 seconds to play after grabbing the rebound on Buckley's block, icing the game for RSU in front of a big crowd decked in "White Out" t-shirts.

The Hillcats fell behind in the early minutes as the Rattlers connected on two of their first three shots for a 5-0 advantage. RSU responded by scoring 15 of the game's next 16 points over a seven-minute span after Josh May tipped an offensive rebound to a streaking Jeylyn Sharpe for a wide-open layup and a 15-6 lead. St. Mary's missed 12-consecutive shots during that span as the Hillcats picked up the defensive pressure and never trailed the rest of the game.

Ritchi Mundende scored on back-to-back RSU possessions stretching the lead to as many as 14 with four minutes remaining in the opening stanza but StMU scored 10-straight points and closed the half on a 12-3 run cutting the margin to 32-27 at intermission.

 The Rattlers continued to chip away at the deficit in the second half eventually evening the score 39-39 six minutes into the frame where the teams then proceeded to trade baskets.

Robinson Odoch Opong scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, including a stretch of eight straight for the Hillcats, giving RSU what appeared to be a comfortable six-point lead 59-53 with 4:32 to play. While it was not his best night shooting, hitting 2-of-7 from long range, the senior showed resilience late in the game knocking down a jumper from behind the arc following an old-fashioned three-point play.

Rogers State (14-7, 9-4 HC) would not relent and held on for the important victory improving to 10-2 on its home court. The win vaulted the Hillcats past StMU into third place in the Heartland Conference standings heading into a matchup with conference-leading Texas A&M International Saturday at 3 p.m.

Odoch Opong was the only Hillcat to reach double figures while five others scored at least six points. Three guards tied for the team lead with five rebounds in Odoch Opong, Hartzler, and Cory Ayala.

Marvin Whitt led the Rattlers with 15 points, all coming from three-point range, as he hit 5-of-8 from behind the arc, but as a team St. Mary's shot only 32 percent (21-of-66) and a dismal 53 percent from the free throw line (10-of-19).