EMPORIA, Kan. – Rogers State Men's Basketball closed the regular season with a victory over Emporia State at the White Auditorium, defeating the Hornets 77-66.
 
How It Happened: The Hillcats never trailed as Gabriel Ferreira grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back up for a layup to open the scoring 54 seconds in. On the next possession, the Hillcats hit a three pointer from Marques Sumner.
 
Following the opening basket from the Hornets, Rogers State went on an 11-2 run to open up a double-digit gap just 4:01 into the game.

The Hillcats would lead by as much as 14 in the first half, floating around a 10-point lead for the remainder of the half before taking a 36-28 advantage into the break.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half, Jett Sternberger hit a three pointer to put Rogers State back in front by double-digits for the remainder of the game.
 
The Hillcats opened up as much as a 21-point lead with 11:09 remaining, cruising to the victory as 10 different Hillcats contributed to the scoring.
 
Key Statistics: The Hillcats had 14 three pointers on 40 percent shooting from behind the arc, compared to just nine from Emporia on 32 percent shooting from long range. Rogers State also had 17 points off turnovers to just nine for the hosts.
 
Players of Focus: Sternberger led the Hillcats with 24 points in the contest on 8-of-16 shooting, including seven three pointers. The freshman led the Hillcats in scoring for the third time this season with a season/career high in points, field goals made and three pointers made.
 
Brewster Peacock was the only other Hillcat in double figures, scoring 15 points. Peacock was one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine boards in the game.
 
Ferreira, Christopher Miller and Cole Kinnamon all finished with seven points. Miller had four rebounds along with a block and a steal. Ferreira had three rebounds and a steal, while Kinnamon had a pair of rebounds and an assist.
 
Notes: Rogers State closes the regular season with five-straight victories and wins in 12 of the last 13 games.
 
Rogers State's 23 wins in the regular season is tied for the most wins by the program in the NCAA era, matching a 23-5 campaign in 2015-16 when the Hillcats claimed the Heartland Conference Regular Season Championship. Rogers State has only had one season with more than 23 wins in the regular season, when the Hillcats went 27-1 in the regular season in 2008-09 in the NAIA.
 
With the win, Rogers State completed the series sweep of Emporia State. The Hillcats completed the sweep of four MIAA teams this season. Rogers State played six MIAA teams twice this season.
 
Tavian Davis added two more steals to his career mark at Rogers State. Davis has 136 career steals, just three from matching the Rogers State career record held by Chris Francis at 139.
 
Up Next: The Hillcats will now await the first-round MIAA Tournament game between No. 7 seed Nebraska-Kearney and No. 10 seed Pittsburg State to learn who their next opponent is. Rogers State will play the winner of the 7/10 game in the MIAA Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5 at 8:15 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.