LAREDO, Texas – The Rogers State men's basketball team rallied to force overtime, but came up short, 74-72, at Texas A&M International on Thursday at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building.
 
Donald Moore sent the game to the overtime period. The senior guard was fouled with 1.3 seconds left on a three-pointer with the Hillcats down 63-60. Needing to hit all three, Moore, who is a 95 percent free throw shooter, went 3-for-3 from the line to tie the score at 63-63 and force overtime.
 
After falling behind by four, 73-69, with 1:16 remaining in overtime, Moore again kept the Hillcats in the game. He beat the defense down the floor to get a layup and was fouled with 31 seconds left. After the made free throw, RSU trailed by only one at 73-72.
 
Needing to foul, RSU put TAMIU's Anthony Alston on the line with 16 seconds remaining. He missed the first, but made the second shot for a 74-72 score.
 
The Hillcats had a chance in the final possession. J.C. Hartzler missed a long jumper with one second left, and Travis Hester's shot came after the buzzer as the Dustdevils escaped with a 74-72 win.
 
In the overtime period, there were three ties; however, the Hillcats were never able to hold the lead. RSU was outscored 11-9 in the overtime with Moore scoring five of the nine points.
 
After falling behind by seven points, 32-25, after the first half, RSU started the second stanza with a 12-4 run to gain a 37-36 advantage. Corey Ayala put the Hillcats in front with a layup with 15:06 remaining.
 
With the Hillcats up 40-38 after a Hartzler triple with 14:06 remaining, TAMIU responded with its own run, scoring the next eight points to take a 46-40 lead after a three-pointer from Jordan VanDeKop.
 
Trailing by five, 51-56, the Hillcats battled back and took a 52-51 edge on a Johnathon Buckey layup with 7:15 remaining. After a Dustdevil basket, Buckley hit from three to put RSU up 55-53 at the 6:18 mark. TAMIU knotted the score at 55-55 with a basket. Hartzler gave the Hillcats their final lead of the game at 57-55 after two free throws with 4:29 left.
 
The Dustdevils scored the next four points to go up 63-59 with 51 seconds left in regulation. RSU, however, put in four three throws in the last 43 seconds, including the three from Moore with 1.3 seconds left, to tie the score at 63-63 and force overtime.
 
Senior guards J.C. Hartzler and Donald Moore tallied a team-high 17 points each. Hartzler finished with a team-high six rebounds. Robert Johnson scored 16 points, going 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The three combined to go 12-for-12 from the free throw line, and the Hillcats went 13-of-14 for 92.9 percent from the line in the contest.
 
TAMIU's VanDeKop totaled a game-high 21 points. Alston added 20 points. Joseph Arkeem registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The two teams shot an identical 26-of-55 from the field for 47.3 percent. Both teams hit seven three-points, and the difference was TAMIU held a 15-13 advantage in made free throws.
 
The Hillcats (11-2, 3-2 HC) look to get back on track on Saturday at St. Mary's in San Antonio, Texas. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. from Bill Greehey Arena. Catch the action with live audio on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.


For more information on RSU basketball visit www.rsuhillcats.com.