SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In a tight road contest, the visiting Rogers State men's basketball team pulled away in the final five minutes to earn a 65-60 victory at St. Mary's on Thursday (Feb. 15) at Bill Greehey Arena.
 
The Hillcats (16-9, 7-6 Heartland) faced their largest deficit on the game with 9:43 remaining in the contest at 43-37 after a jumper by StMU's Skyler Brooks, but rallied in the final minutes to get the key road league win.
 
RSU quickly pulled even at 46-46 and built its own six-point lead en route to the 65-60 win.
 
Tate Turner used a three-point play and then Baron Smith Jr. sank a 3-pointer to cut the margin to only one point at 44-43 with 8:04 left.
 
Free throws from Saint Hilaire and Gage Loy tied the score at 46-46 at the 7:32 mark.
 
Chase Littlejohn, one of the top 3-pointer shooters in the Heartland Conference, gave the navy and red a 49-46 edge with a triple with 5:05 left. A Smith 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining followed by a Loy basket at the 2:37 mark upped the RSU advantage to 56-50, its largest of the game.
 
Brooks of StMU pulled the Rattlers to within two with 45 seconds left on a 3-pointer, but Loy came right back and closed the door on StMU when he hit a 3 with 21 seconds remaining for a 62-57 score.
 
The Cats made free throws in the final seconds for the 65-60 win.
 
Smith posted a team-high 15 points and four assists in 32 minutes. Turner went for 14 points. Hilaire registered a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Coming off the bench, Loy totaled 11 points, including some late points in the final stretch of the game.
 
Brooks scored a game-high 19 points in 33 minutes off the bench. Freddie Williams tallied a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The Hillcats play their final road game of the season at Texas A&M International on Saturday (Feb. 17) at 3 p.m. in Laredo, Texas. Radio coverage will be available on 91.3 FM and on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com/live.