CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Rogers State men's basketball team shot better than 50 percent from the field for the second consecutive contest, winning 75-62 over Oklahoma Christian on Monday (Jan. 16) at the Claremore Expo Center. The victory is the third straight for the Cats, all in Heartland Conference action.
OC (6-9, 1-6 Heartland) scored the first points of the game and went up 5-3 after a 3-pointer from Jordan Box, however, the Hillcats tied the score at 5-5 on a Matt Lea layup at the 16:55 mark as the navy and red held control for the rest of the contest and never trailed again for the final 37 minutes of action.
JD Tisdale gave RSU its first lead with a thunderous fastbreak dunk for a 7-5 edge. Jeylyn Sharpe upped the advantage with a put back layup for an early 9-5 score. After OC knotted the score at 9-9, Tisdale went on a personal 7-0 run getting out for another fastbreak dunk and hitting a 3-pointer for a 16-9 score. The Cats cruised into halftime with a 30-22 lead.
To start the second half, the Eagles made a small run to pull to within three at 30-27, but RSU quickly pushed the margin to double figures at 40-30 after a Lea layup with 15:46 to go. The Cats pulled out to a 15-point edge after a Baron Smith Jr. 3-pointer made it 67-52 with 4:08 remaining, RSU's largest lead of the game. The Hillcats continued to hold the upper hand in the second half en route to the 75-62 win.
The navy and red shot 54 percent (27-50) from the field, including 50 percent (8-16) from 3-point distance. The 54 percent night follows a 54.7 percent shooting performance on Thursday in a win over St. Edward's. The back-to-back nights are the two highest league shooting percentages for RSU this season. In the win tonight, the Cats were also efficient from the free throw line, shooting 86.7 percent (13-15).
Sharpe posted a game-high 20 points, going 7-of-9 shooting from the field. He added a game-high seven rebounds as the Hillcats held a 37-27 advantage on the boards in the game. In a balanced attack, Tisdale (16), Smith (13) and Johnathon Buckley (11) all hit double figures in scoring. Buckley went a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field, including two triples.
A strong defensive performance from RSU held the Eagles to 25 percent (7-28) shooting in the first half and 35.1 percent (20-57) in the field. Box and Marcus Mathieu tied for a team-high 15 points.
The Hillcats (12-6, 5-3) are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 21) against UAFS at 3 p.m. at the Claremore Expo Center. Coverage will be available on RSU TV 35.1, 91.3 FM and the Hillcat Network at http://www.rsuhillcats.com/live.
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