CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State Men's Basketball team dropped a tight Heartland Conference battle at home to Dallas Baptist 94-80 Wednesday night at the Claremore Expo Center.
 
Neither team held larger than a seven-point lead until less then five minutes to go in the game when Dallas Baptist (16-7, 8-2 Heartland) used an 11-4 run to go ahead by 8 with 4:26 remaining.
 
The Hillcats (15-8, 4-5) would cut the deficit back to six points on two occasions, but the Patriots held the gap and used a pair of late three pointers and 5-for-6 shooting at the free-throw line over the final minutes to hold off the Hillcats.
 
Five Hillcats finished in double figures, with Tavian Davis and Latrell Tidwell leading the way with 15 points each. Tidwell finished second on the team in rebounding, with seven boards. Davis finished with three assists, two blocks, two rebounds and a steal.
 
Saint Hilaire finished with 14 points and led the Hillcats with nine rebounds. He also had a pair of assists to go along with a block and a steal.
 
Jordan Johnson and Tate Turner also finished in double figures. Johnson had 11 points, going 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
 
Turner had 10 points with a team-high four assists and three rebounds. He also had a block and a steal.
 
The Hillcats finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field. Dallas Baptist shot 54 percent from the field and had 13 three pointers. Rogers State had eight three pointers in the game. Both teams finished with 34 points in the paint.
 
Rogers State outrebounded Dallas Baptist 33-24 in the game and led in second-chance points 12-7, but the Hillcats had 15 turnovers to just nine from the visitors. Dallas Baptist finished with 19 points off of turnovers and the Hillcats had 10.
 
The Hillcats will return to action on Saturday, hosting Oklahoma Christian at the Claremore Expo Center. Rogers State will tip off with the Eagles at 3 p.m.