CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State men's basketball (6-3, 2-1 MIAA) snapped No. 16 Emporia State's (7-1, 1-1 MIAA) seven-game winning streak with a 75-68 upset win inside the Claremore Expo Center on Thursday night. This is RSU's first win against a Top 25 opponent since knocking off No. 11 Missouri Southern 105-93 in Joplin, Mo. on Feb. 1, 2020.
 
Three Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Chris Whitaker paced RSU with a career-high 23 points to go with a game-high four assists, two rebounds and a block. Joey Saracco put together his second-straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds as well as three assists and two steals. Kofi Hamilton contributed 14 points with five rebounds, an assist and a steal. As a team, the Hillcats shot a season-high 79.2 percent (19-for-24) from the charity stripe and were a perfect 6-for-6 in the first half.
 
RSU came out of the game on fire as they opened on a 7-0 run. The Hornets found their footing though as they bounced back with a 12-4 run to go up for the first time at 12-11. From there, things were incredibly close for most of the half with five lead changes and five ties. In that stretch, neither team was able to build more than a four-point margin with the Hillcats coming out on top 29-27. RSU began to gain some momentum in the late stages of the period as they closed out the half on a 11-4 run to carry a 37-31 lead into the break.
 
Coming out of the locker room, the Hillcats built out their first double-digit lead of the night as they began the second half on a 6-2 run to go up 43-33. ESU went to work whittling down the deficit until they got it to 54-52 with just over nine minutes left. However, RSU responded with a 7-0 run to push back out to 61-52. Every time the Hornets attempted a comeback, the Hillcats had an answer and eventually took their largest lead of the game at 70-58 with under two minutes remaining. Even though ESU tried to mount one final comeback attempt with a 6-0 run with under a minute left, Rogers State held on to complete the 75-68 upset.
 
The Hillcats will look to build on this momentum on Saturday, Dec. 10 as they play host to Washburn in the final home game of 2022. Tip off is slated 3:30 p.m.