CLAREMORE, Okla. – Jerry Dixon had a career day for the Rogers State men's basketball team scoring 24 points but the comeback bid came up short as Heartland Conference-leading Texas A&M International escaped with an 80-73 victory Saturday at the Claremore Expo.
Dixon single-handedly brought the Hillcats back into the game from a double-digit deficit scoring 12-consecutive points in the final three minutes getting RSU within two 69-67 but could not overtake the Dustdevils.
The Hillcats looked good from the opening tip jumping in front 10-4 after Jeylyn Sharpe scored at the rim on back-to-back possessions.
The rest of the half belonged to the visiting Dustdevils as they went on 9-0 run to take their first lead 13-10 and the margin stretched into double figures 35-20 with less than five minutes remaining before the break behind another RSU scoreless drought.
TAMIU closed the opening stanza with nine of the final 12 points to take a 44-25 lead at intermission but the Hillcats slowly climbed back into the game cutting the deficit to single digits 48-40 with 12:51 to play in the second half.
The Dustdevils regained their wide advantage 65-50 and looked to be in control of things in the final five minutes until Dixon took over the game for RSU.
J.C. Hartzler started a 17-4 run by the Hillcats with a three pointer and Dixon followed with an incredible stretch of 90 seconds where he scored all of the game's next 12 points making it a one-possession game 69-67 with 1:22 remaining. The senior from Columbus, Ohio ignited the crowd by getting to the rim and had the Expo rocking after a steal at midcourt leading to a breakaway, one-handed dunk.
RSU's comeback bid was thwarted in the final minute as TAMIU sealed the conference-leading victory at the free throw line.
Dixon finished his tremendous night with 24 points off the bench to lead all scorers hitting 8-of-14 shot attempts, including several off-balance jumpers in the paint, and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Hartzler tallied 13 points and Damion Hooks added 11 for RSU.
Vadel Faniel led five Dustdevils in double-figure scoring with 19 points while Jordan Clark finished with a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
Rogers State (14-8, 9-5 HC) returns to action with a two-game road trip next week at Oklahoma Christian Thursday before facing Dallas Baptist Saturday looking to sweep the season series with each. RSU Radio 91.3 FM will provide live play-by-play of both games with live streaming available at www.rsuradio.com.
