CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State men's basketball (15-12, 11-10 MIAA) battled for a hard fought 65-59 win against Central Missouri (11-16, 6-14 MIAA) on Thursday to open the final regular season homestand of the season.
 
Chris Whitaker led the way for the Hillcats dropping 19 points with seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Kofi Hamilton finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds along with two assists, two steals and a block after shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. also dished out a team-high six assists to go with two points, two steals and a rebound.
 
The first half was defensive slugfest early on as neither team could score until Ugo Obineke slammed one home for the game's first bucket at 17:41. After the Mules put up two threes to take a 6-2 lead, RSU jumped back out in front 9-6 with a 7-0 run. Things grew tight for the next few minutes with two lead changes and two ties until the Hillcats rolled up a 12-0 run to push out to a 22-12 lead with 7:53 left in the half. UCM was able to get the margin down to four points at 22-18, but RSU eventually carried a 33-23 advantage into the break.
 
The second half was just as contentious as the Mules went to work cutting the lead down to three at 40-37 with a 14-7 run out of the locker room to start the period. UCM kept within striking distance the entire second half, never letting RSU get more than two possessions ahead for long. With 1:41 left, the Mules again got within three points at 62-59. However, timely defense and made free throws put the game out of reach as RSU survived with the 65-59 win.
 
The Hillcats will close out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 25 as they welcome Lincoln inside the Claremore Expo Center on Senior Day. Tip off is set for 3:30 p.m.