SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Rogers State men's basketball team could not hold a seven-point halftime lead falling at St. Mary's, 60-58, on a last-second three pointer Saturday at Bill Greehey Arena.
 
On an afternoon where neither team's offense was clicking, the Hillcats had a chance to seal a road win, but a turnover, the 21st of the game, in the final seconds led to the winning basket from the Rattlers' Bryce Smith with 1.1 seconds on the clock. StMU scored six of the game's final eight points to snap a four-game losing streak.
 
After the Rattlers tallied the opening four points, back-to-back baskets from RSU's J.C. Hartzler and Travis Julien evened the game, 4-4. Trailing by four three minutes later, Hartzler and Julien combined again to tie the score, 12-12, as Julien threw down a rim-rattling, two-handed slam on a perfect inside feed from Jeylyn Sharpe.
 
The Hillcats took their first lead of the afternoon as Sharpe drove to the basket and scored while drawing a foul. The junior converted the free throw giving the Cats a 17-16 edge with 8:35 to play in the first half. RSU took over in the final seven minutes turning a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead at halftime, 30-23, as the run was started and finished by triples from Donald Moore.
 
StMU began the second half quickly cutting the lead down to one before RSU got buckets from Sharpe and Corey Ayala to regain a five-point lead, 34-29. Robert Johnson set a high screen leaving Hartzler open to knock down a triple moving the Hillcats' advantage back to seven, 44-37 at the 11:37 mark.
 
A banked-in three pointer to beat the shot clock pushed the Rattlers closer, down 48-46, and took a one-point lead scoring from long range on the next possession. Sharpe grabbed a defensive rebound and ran the length of the floor scoring at the rim and hitting the ensuing free throw after a foul putting the Hillcats up 56-54. StMU matched the basket and with 41 seconds to play, Ayala scored on an offensive rebound for a two-point edge, 58-56, but RSU could not pull of the road win, falling 60-58.
 
Sharpe came off the bench to lead the Cats with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Moore was the only other player to reach double figures adding 11 points. Ayala turned in eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Yanni Wetzell led all scorers for StMU with 18 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the floor in just 21 minutes of action.
 
The loss marked the first time in program history where RSU has lost three-straight in nine seasons of men's basketball coming by a combined nine points.
 
The Hillcats (11-3 overall, 3-3 HC) are back on the court Jan. 14 playing host to Lubbock Christian. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the Claremore Expo Center and can be viewed live on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.