BILLINGS, Mont. – Rogers State men's basketball (3-0) continued their hot start to the season as they finished the D2CCA Tipoff Classic with an 83-76 win over old Heartland Conference foe St. Edward's (2-1) on Sunday.
 
"This was a great weekend for our team," said Head Coach Justin Barkley. "We had a lot of questions going into the season. We've got a few of those questions answered, but by no means are we a finished product. Overall, this was a great start and something we can build on going forward."

Kofi Hamilton was named the tournament MVP with Jabryn Anderson and Caden Fry also earning All-Tournament honors.
 
Three Hillcats finished in double figures. Hamilton led RSU and finished just two rebounds shy of a double-double with 21 points and eight rebounds to go with three blocks, three steals and two assists. Fry put up 14 points with six rebounds and an assist. Sam Davidson contributed 13 points with three assists and two rebounds.
 
The first half was a back-and-forth affair early with six lead changes and three ties in the first nine minutes. With 10 minutes left in the half, RSU held a slim 21-18 lead, but an 11-4 run by the Hilltoppers gave SEU its largest lead of the half at 29-25. The Hillcats responded with force as they finished the half on an impressive 24-10 run to put them up 50-39 headed into the break.
 
The Hilltoppers tried to mount a comeback as they opened the second half with a hoop and harm to cut the deficit to 50-42. However, RSU was able to hold them off for the moment as they pushed the lead back out to 62-49 with 14 minutes left. SEU kept working to trim the margin down and eventually tied the game at 71-71 with just under five minutes remaining. Fortunately, the Hillcats were able to snuff out the comeback down the stretch as they used a combination of made shots and free throws to put the game on ice at 83-74 with just over a minute left and eventually claimed the 83-76 victory.
 
RSU will continue the season-opening road trip on Friday, Nov. 8 as they travel to Little Rock, Ark. to face off against Ouachita Baptist in the first game of the Central Region Challenge. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Little Rock Christian Academy.