DALLAS – A late game rally came up short for the Rogers State men Thursday evening inside the Burg Center as Dallas Baptist held on for a 74-69 victory over the Hillcats.
 
Travis Hester strung together four 3-pointers over a 1:40 stretch of play in the final three minutes of action as the senior guard pulled the Hillcats out of a game high 15 point deficit to trail 69-67 with 57 remaining.
 
The Crozet, Va. native, who finished 5-for-10 from behind the arc, was held to just one final heave before time expired as the Patriots made 5-of-8 free throws to cling to the 74-69 victory.
 
RSU led 32-28 at the half after trailing by as many as 10 points twice in the first period of play. The Patriots built a double-digit lead in the opening 4:10 as Patrick Burke scored eight points to point DBU up 13-3. DBU built the lead to 17-7 midway through the half before RSU went on a 15-2 run to gain a 22-19 advantage with just under five minutes to go before half.
 
The Patriots made an 11-0 run behind six points by Xavier Ledet to put DBU ahead, 39-32, just 3:30 minutes into the second stanza. Five points by Baron Smith Jr. fueled a run by the Hillcats to even the score at 39-39 with 13:38 left. The two squads exchanged buckets before DBU started to build a double-digit lead that swelled to the game high 15 point lead with less than four minutes to go.
 
Dallas Baptist (7-6, 2-2) was led by Myles Johnson with 14 points while Amari Bryant and Patrick Burke added 13 points each. Julian Miranda rounded out the double-digit scorers for DBU with 10 points. The Patriots were efficient from the charity stripe knocking down 29-of-36 for 81 percent.
 
Hester scored a game high 15 points for the Hillcats, shooting 50-percent from behind the arc. Smith Jr. totaled 13 points while JD Tisdale, Jeylyn Sharpe and Johnathon Buckley finished with 11 points. Five Hillcats scored in double figures as just six Cats scored. Sharpe tallied his fourth double-double of the season while Buckley posted the second double-double in his senior season.
 
Rogers State (9-6, 2-3) will travel west to face Lubbock Christian this Saturday, January 7 inside the Rip Griffin Center. Tip is schedule for 3 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas as live play-by-play will be provided on RSU Radio 91.3 FM and on the Hillcat Network streaming live at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.