GOODWELL, Okla. – The Rogers State men's basketball team earned a Heartland Conference road sweep winning its second straight, a tilted affair, 96-55, at Oklahoma Panhandle State Saturday at Oscar Williams Field House.
Five players scored in double figures for the Hillcats as the team knocked down a season-high 13 shots from behind the arc shooting 13-of-21 (62 percent).
J.C. Hartzler matched his career-best with six triples ranking fourth in RSU single-game history.
The Aggies held a brief 4-2 lead until
Deran Banton converted a pair of free throws evening the game starting a 10-0 run for RSU as the Cats led the game for 37 of 40 minutes. After OPSU trimmed the margin to 15-11, the Hillcats scored the game's next 10 points building a double-digit lead capped by one of
DesJuan Newton's three treys.
RSU closed the opening half on a 13-2 stretch scoring the final 10 points for a 49-22 lead at the intermission break.
Hartzler hit another three pointer opening the second frame as the Hillcats continued to push their advantage leading by more than 30 points for a majority of the stanza.
Jordan Huffman helped RSU with eight points in the final minutes earning the one-sided road win, 96-55, as it closed the game on a 9-2 run.
Newton paced the Hillcats with his first 20-point performance going 8-of-10 from the floor. Hartzler nearly matched him with 19 points while
Frederico Santos added another double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Huffman notched his best performance in the navy and red with 11 points off the bench and
Jeylyn Sharpe added 10 points.
Newton and
Corey Ayala each tallied five assists as RSU dished 22 for the game ranking third all-time in the program's history on 35 made field goals. Freshman
Matt Lea added three blocks for the Hillcats.
Rogers State (10-6, 4-4 HC) is back on the court Jan. 22 facing Oklahoma Christian to open its longest homestand of the season, a four-game stretch at the Claremore Expo Center. The game can be found with live audio and video on the Hillcat Network at
www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
