LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Rogers State men's basketball (4-0) was able to withstand a late comeback attempt from Ouachita Baptist (0-1) to stay undefeated and claim the 85-70 win in their first game of the Central Regional Challenge on Friday.

"This was a great start to the weekend," said Head Coach Justin Barkley. "I thought in the first 25 minutes we were locked in, but didn't finish the way we needed to in the last part of the second half. Hopefully we can reset and get ready for a tough matchup tomorrow on a short turnaround."

Four Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Bryce Tillery led the Hillcats with a career-high 19 points along with two rebounds and an assist. Kofi Hamilton put up 18 points with four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Caden Fry finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds in addition to two assists, a block and a steal. Andrew Mason contributed 12 points with four blocks and two steals. Jabryn Anderson also nearly earned a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds as well as two blocks.
 
RSU came out of the gates on fire as they opened the game on a 11-4 run in the first four minutes. They were able to keep the pressure on the Tigers and took their first double digit lead at 31-20 with just over five minutes left in the half. The Hillcats closed out the period on a 15-5 run to take a 43-25 advantage into the break.
 
RSU carried their momentum into the second half as the ran out on a 12-5 run to go up by their largest margin in the game at 55-30. However, the Tigers went to work whittling down the deficit, starting with a 14-4 run that got the score to 59-44 at 12:53 left. OBU eventually got the lead down to 10 points at 74-64 with under four minutes remaining. But that would be as close as they would get with Tillery draining two shots from deep on back-to-back possessions to quell any Tiger momentum. With under a minute left, RSU closed out the game on a 5-0 run to secure the 85-70 victory.
 
The Hillcats will wrap up the Central Regional Challenge tomorrow as they face off against Harding. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.