CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State men's basketball team holds on to the top spot in the Heartland Conference with an, 89-74, road victory over Oklahoma Christian on Thursday evening at the Eagles Nest.  
 
With the win, RSU remains in a first place tie in the Heartland Conference standings with St. Mary's who earned a narrow victory at Texas A&M International on Thursday.
 
The Eagles jumped out to an 11-3 advantage in the first frame. The Hillcats battled back, taking their first lead of the game with a 13-4 run capped by a Jordan Huffman steal and layup to give RSU the 16-15 advantage with 11:41 to play in the stanza. RSU took control of the frame, building a double digit lead with a 15-5 spurt.  With the momentum swinging towards the Hillcats, DesJuan Newton grabbed a steal, dribbled the length of the court and threw down a two-handed dunk to push the advantage to 11 points with 1:23 to play in the half. However, OC kept things interesting going into intermission with a 5-0 run to end the stanza, cutting the Hillcat lead to four at the break.
 
The Eagles shrunk the RSU lead to one point to start the second frame but RSU answered with a 10-2 run capped by consecutive three-pointers from J.C. Hartzler and Donald Moore. OC stopped the run with a trey of their own but Newton and Hartzler posted back-to-back buckets from long distance and Matt Lea added a layup to push the Hillcat lead to 14 points with 12:28 to go in the game.
 
RSU held the doubled digit advantage for all but one possession in the final 12 minutes of the contest. All 10 Hillcats who saw the court scored with Newton leading the way with a season-high 28 points. Frederico Santos tallied his12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 boards. Hartzler rounded out the group with 14 points. RSU shot 53-percent from the field and 32-percent from long distance, winning the battle on the boards 36-29.
 
Jordan Box led four OC players in double digits with 18 points.   
 
Rogers State (18-7, 12-5 HC) will close out its road slate on Saturday at Newman (Kan.) with a tip time of 3 p.m. Fans can listen to the game live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live and one RSU Radio 91.3 FM.