LAWTON, Okla. – It was a tail of two halves for Rogers State men's basketball Wednesday night inside Aggie Gym as the Hillcats fell 78-68 to the Cameron Aggies.
 
A first half that saw RSU shoot 53 percent from the field and 66 percent from long distance was followed by nearly the opposite in the closing period of play as the Cats failed to make a 3-pointer and connected on just 32 percent of its second half shots.
 
The Hillcats held a 41-32 first half advantage behind sharp shooting from guard Travis Hester as he tallied a team high 20 points. That marks the most points in the opening half of play for a Hillcat since J.C. Hartzler tallied 18 points in a victory over Cameron last season.
 
With RSU up 19-17 with 6:47 remaining before the intermission, the Crozet, Va. native became hot from behind the arc hitting 5-of-6 over the next 3:30 of action to put the Hillcats up 34-22. Hester added a sixth 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining in the period and a JV Long layup for Cameron just before the halftime buzzer closed out the half.
 
The halftime break cooled the Cats as Cameron opened on a 10-0 run in the first 1:53 of the second half to gain a 42-41 lead out of the locker rooms. Jeylyn Sharpe stopped the bleeding for the Hillcats with a pair of layups to give RSU the lead with 15:38 to go. The Aggies responded with a layup by Long to take a two point lead just 40 seconds later.
 
It was a lead the Aggies wouldn't relinquish and would build to as much as 15 points with 3:11 on the clock. RSU trimmed the Cameron lead to 11 points on layups by JD Tisdale and Jeylyn Sharpe with 2:21 to go. After a pair of missed free throws by the Aggie's Tyler Williams led to a successful trip to the charity stripe for Johnathon Buckley RSU pulled within 10 points with 1:14 remaining.
 
Cameron was able to convert from the free throw stripe and a pair of misses by the Hillcats in the final half minute of action gave the Aggies a 78-68 victory.
 
Cameron (5-1) was led by JV Long with 21 points as he led all scorers on the evening. Stacey Lambert added 13 points while Tyler Williams and Trey Hall finished with 12 a piece in the win.
 
Hester finished with a team high 20 points while Sharpe tallied 16 points as just two Hillcats scored in double-figures.
 
Rogers State (3-2) returns to action this Saturday facing the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos at 3 p.m. inside Hamilton Field House.  Live audio streaming will be provided on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.