CLAREMORE, OKLA. – Rogers State men's basketball led start to finish in an 85-65 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State Saturday at the Claremore Expo.
 
RSU rode a strong first half performance by senior J.D. Tisdale as the guard tallied 22 points in the opening stanza to give the Hillcats a 48-35 halftime lead.  The Flint, Mich. native finished with a game high 26 points to set a new career high in his lone season as a Hillcat.
 
OPSU responded to open the second half as the Aggies went on a 10-2 in the first four minutes of the period. Jordan Huffman fueled the Hillcats to a double-digit lead once again as he tallied six points and played a part in every basket of a 13-2 to put RSU up 63-47 with 13:00 to go.
 
The Aggies trimmed the RSU lead back to single digits with 7:10 to go at 68-60. The Hillcats closed the contest outscoring OPSU 17-5 to claim the 20 point victory.
 
Huffman finished with eight points and three assists in 12 minutes of action off the bench. Jeylyn Sharpe finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Tisdale not only led the Hillcats in points but also finished with a team high five assists and shot 13-of-14 from the charity stripe.
 
OPSU (5-7, 0-3) remains winless in the early Heartland Conference season with the loss. The Aggies were led in scoring by Malcolm Glanville with 15 points as Tevin Lytes and Riyadh Asad chipped in 10 points apiece. OPSU committed 16 turnovers leading to 22 points off turnovers for the Hillcats.
 
Rogers State (9-4, 2-1) will return to action on Monday as the Newman Jets fly into the Claremore Expo for an afternoon tilt to ring in the 2017 calendar year. Tip is set for 3 p.m. Monday and live play-by-play coverage will be provided on the Hillcat Network with audio and video streaming at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.