TULSA, Okla. – Travis Hester caught fire in the second half for the Rogers State men's basketball team scoring all of his team-high 15 points over the final 20 minutes in a 66-56 loss one the road at NCAA Division I Tulsa Tuesday night at Reynolds Center.
 
In their exhibition finale, Hester single-handedly willed the Hillcats back into the game outscoring TU 15-7 over a five-minute stretch late in the second frame. The Crozet, Virginia hit four in-a-row from long range keeping RSU within striking distance against a team predicted to reach the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN's Dick Vitale.
 
The Hillcats came to the Reynolds Center and looked ready to play scoring the opening four points with a strong defensive effort leading to easy baskets for Travis Julien and Jordan Huffman less than 90 seconds into the game.
 
After the Golden Hurricane scored the next six points, J.C. Hartzler ended a five-minute drought hitting from long range putting RSU back in front, 7-6. The Hillcats continued to hold Tulsa off the scoreboard for more than five minutes, but a 9-0 run for the home side forced a RSU timeout.
 
Hartzler snapped the run with a free throw at the 7:50 mark before the Golden Hurricane scored five straight and 11 of the next 13 points, pushing the tempo on the court. The stretch extended the TU lead to 26-10 and went on to close opening stanza ahead, 30-17.
 
Back-to-back triples to open the second half for the Golden Hurricane moved the RSU deficit to 19 points as the Hillcats continued to hang around by driving to the basket creating opportunities at the rim. Hartzler, Julien, and Donald Moore all scored in the paint closing the gap to 40-27.
 
Tulsa pushed to a 51-32 lead, but could not deflate RSU and the scoring punch of newcomer Travis Hester. The junior transfer tallied 15-consecutive points for the navy and red draining shots from seemingly anywhere on the court cutting the score to 56-44. Hester added an assist on a three pointer from Moore making it a 60-50 deficit behind an 18-7 run for the Hillcats.
 
The Hillcats could not get any closer, falling 66-56. Hester and Hartzler led RSU in scoring with 15 points apiece. Corey Ayala hauled in 10 boards to lead the Cats on the glass. Tulsa out rebounded RSU 40-36 and James Woodard led all scorers with 21 points.
 
RSU begins the 2015-16 regular season in Fort Smith, Arkansas Nov. 13 against nationally-ranked Metropolitan State University of Denver. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Stubblefield Center in a conference challenge versus the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and can be heard live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.