LAREDO, Texas – The Rogers State men's basketball team held off host Texas A&M International for a 58-47 road win on Saturday (Feb. 17) at the TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building.
 
The Hillcats led for the final 10 minutes of the game and pulled away late, holding TAMIU scoreless for the final three minutes, to earn the victory.
 
Clinging to a 50-47 edge with three minutes left, junior Chase Littlejohn sank a key 3-pointer to double the RSU margin to 53-47 with 2:31 remaining.
 
Time ran out for the host Dustdevils as the stingy RSU defense held TAMIU scoreless for the final three minutes of the game. After a made 3-pointer at the 3:26 mark, the Dustdevils went 0-for-4 shooting from the field to finish the game.
 
Saint Hilaire put the game away with a steal and fastbreak layup with 31 seconds left for a 56-47 margin. Tavian Davis made two free throws late for the final 58-47 score.
 
The Cats opened the game fast and built their largest lead of the game on a Hilaire triple with 13:17 remaining in the first half for an 18-6 advantage. Hilaire and Baron Smith Jr. scored all 18 points of the points during the spurt and the first 20 points of the game for RSU.
 
TAMIU finished the first half with an 18-5 run to take a slight 24-23 edge into halftime. The Dustdevils extended the score to their biggest lead early in the second half at 34-29 on a Dan Milota 3-pointer with 17 minutes to play.
 
Smith gave RSU its first second half lead with 10:07 remaining on a jumper for a 42-40 and the navy red never looked back, leading for the rest of the contest.
 
Hilaire and Smith combined to score 40 of RSU's 58 points. Hilaire finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from 3. Smith added 17 points and a team-high four assists.
 
RSU was efficient from the floor, shooting 50 percent (20-40), including 50 percent (8-16) from 3. Hilaire, Littlejohn and Tate Turner combined to go 7-for-7 from 3.
 
TAMIU's Jeremy Wright scored 14 points, and Kaman Robinson tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Hillcats end the regular season with two home contests next week. RSU starts with Newman on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. inside the Claremore Expo Center. Senior Day is Saturday against Oklahoma Christian at 3 p.m. Coverage for both games will be available on RSU TV, 91.3 FM and on the Hillcat Network.