WICHITA, Kan.– Rogers State men's basketball (7-7, 4-4 MIAA) withstood a flurry of second half runs to capture their 10th-straight win over Newman (6-8, 3-6 MIAA) in an 85-72 win on Wednesday.
 
A season-high six Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Isaac Johnson led all scorers and finished just three rebounds shy of a double-double with 17 points and seven rebounds to go with two assists and a steal. Kofi Hamilton added 15 points and seven rebounds of his own as well as two assists and a steal. Both Rodney Battle and Sam Davidson put up 13 points apiece with Battle pulling down three boards, two assists and two steals while Davidson got a rebound. Evan Anderson finished with 11 points, six assists, two rebounds and a steal. Anthony Marshall Jr. contributed 10 points with a team-high seven assists, four rebounds and two steals.
 
RSU came out of the gates on fire as they opened the game on a 10-3 run. The Jets responded with an 8-0 run of their own to grab their only lead of the night at 11-10. The Hillcats quickly turned around and answered with a 9-1 run to go back up 19-12. With just over 10 minutes left in the half, they ripped off another 10-0 run to extend the advantage to 33-19. RSU took its largest lead of the period at 45-27 with just over five minutes remaining in the half. Newman found life again as they brought the lead back down to single digits at 45-36 thanks to a 9-0 run. The Hillcats were able to hold serve and took a 49-39 lead into the break.
 
The second half was a period of runs as the two teams traded buckets in the first five minutes out of the locker room. After the Jets whittled the deficit down to just seven points at 53-46, RSU pushed the lead back out to 63-48. Newman again got the lead down to 67-60, but a 7-0 run put RSU back up 74-60. With four minutes left, the Jets tried to string together one final comeback with a quick 5-0 run to get within five points at 75-70. However, back-to-back threes from Anderson and Johnson effectively put the game away as the Hillcats salted the final minute away with free throws to claim the 85-72 victory.
 
RSU will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 13 as they travel to Edmond, Okla. to face off against No. 17 Central Oklahoma. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.