WICHITA, Kan. – Rogers State men's basketball (14-12, 10-10 MIAA) took a 88-81 win over Newman (8-18, 4-16 MIAA) in the regular season road finale on Saturday. With the win and a Northeastern State loss to No. 10 Central Oklahoma, the Hillcats secured their spot in the MIAA Tournament.
 
Five Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Chris Whitaker led the way with 19 points along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. was just two assists shy of double-double with 18 points and eight assists with two rebounds and a steal. Joey Saracco logged his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go with a block. Ugo Obineke added 15 points with three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Sam Davidson added 10 points with two rebounds and an assist.
 
The Hillcats shot the lights out to start the game with an 11-0 run. They would extend that lead out to 36-18 with 5:37 left in the half. However, the Jets began to wake up and were able to cut the deficit down to 10 points at 38-28, but RSU counterpunched and carried a 44-31 margin into the break.
 
Newman came alive in the second half as they opened the period with a 12-4 run to trim the lead to 48-43. The Hillcats answered with a 10-2 run of their own to push back out to 58-45. The Jets battled all the way back to tie the game at 72-72 and briefly took their only lead of the game at 77-75 with 3:35 left. RSU responded and took the game over with a 13-4 run in the final three minutes to claim the 88-81 victory.
 
The Hillcats return home to the Claremore Expo Center on Thursday, Feb. 23 to begin the final homestand of the regular season with a matchup against Central Missouri. Tip off is slated for 7:30 p.m.