After scoring 51 points in the second half, Rogers State men’s basketball (10-8, 6-6 MIAA) pushed past Pittsburg State (5-13, 2-10 MIAA) for the 82-70 victory on Thursday inside the friendly confines of the Claremore Expo Center.
Four Hillcats finished in double figures in the win. Joey Saracco led RSU with 17 points and finished just two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight boards to go with two assists and a steal. Isaac Johnson added 13 points with six rebounds and an assist. Both Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. and Ugo Obineke contributed 10 points apiece. Devonish-Prince Jr. added a rebound, an assist and a block, while Obineke added two rebounds and two steals.
RSU started slow as the Gorillas dashed out to a 12-4 lead early in the game. However, the Hillcats found their footing as responded with a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 17-14. PSU answered back with a 15-6 run to retake the advantage 29-23 with 4:37 left in the half. RSU battled to tie it back up at 31-31, but a three-pointer to close out the half put the Gorillas in front 34-31 going into the locker room.
Out of the break the Hillcats went to work regaining the lead and managed to retake the advantage at 41-39 nearly three minutes into the second half. From there, they continued to build out the margin going up by as much as 15 points at 60-45 thanks to a 21-6 run with 9:38 left. However, the Gorillas refused to die as they mounted at 12-0 run to pull within three points at 60-57 with just under seven minutes remaining. Things remained tight for the next few moments until a 9-3 run put RSU back in front 72-63. In the remaining three minutes, the Hillcats salted the game away going 10-for-12 from the free throw line to take the 82-70 victory.
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