WICHITA, Kan. – Rogers State men's basketball (16-8, 7-5 MIAA) could not withstand a second half comeback at Newman (13-8, 6-6 MIAA) and came up short 85-79 on Saturday.
"Our attention to detail was not great on both ends of the floor," said Head Coach
Justin Barkley. "Credit to Newman, they were ready to play. I thought we were ready to play, but we just did not do the little things right towards the end and it cost us. It is tough to win on the road in the MIAA, but we let one get away and it is frustrating."
Five Hillcats finished in double figures.
Benard Omooria led the way with a career-high 25 points.
Caden Fry put up 14 points and was one rebound shy of a double-double, with nine boards.
Anthony Marshall Jr. scored 12 points, along with
Sam Davidson and
Andrew Mason adding 11 points. Mason and Marshall Jr. were clever in passing the ball, as both added four assists to their stat sheets. Mason also recorded two blocks and Fry tallied two steals.
Newman got off to a hot start, but RSU never trailed by more than two possessions in the first five minutes and kept stride with the hot shooting. The Hillcats got going offensively when they went on a 17-6 run to take a 31-20 lead at the 7:33 mark. Newman responded with a 12-6 run of their own and trailed the Hillcats 37-32 with 2:57 left in the first half. However, RSU locked down on defense down the stretch and closed out the half on a 7-2 run, leading to a score of 44-35 at halftime in favor of the Hillcats.
RSU and Newman both scored early in the second half, but the Hillcats maintained the nine point lead, up 50-41 with 15:24 to play. Unfortunately, Newman kept chipping away and in a span of nearly six minutes, the Jets went on a 17-9 run and trailed by one point at 59-58 with 8:41 left. The game was tight for next few minutes, but the Jets came out on top with a 68-65 lead at the 5:31 mark. As the game progressed, Newman kept building its lead. Despite a late fouling effort and a long 3-pointer from Davidson, the Jets salted the game away with free throws and secured an 85-79 victory.
RSU will return to the floor on Thursday, Feb. 6 as they host Missouri Western, opening a three-game homestand. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Claremore Expo Center.
