RSU Sports
Steven Braun, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State men’s basketball shot lights out Saturday afternoon to put away the Dallas Baptist Patriots, 102-86, inside the Claremore Expo.
The Hillcats closed out the home schedule with a 67.9 percent field goal shooting performance as the crowd of 1,414 on hand said goodbye to six seniors in their final home game.
Senior Jeylyn Sharpe scored a career high 30 points in his final appearance at the Claremore Expo. The Ketchum, Okla. native scored seven of the Hillcats first nine points including a 5-0 run of his own to diminish a five point Patriot lead just five minutes into the game.
A jumper by Sharpe just seconds later gave RSU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game. Sharpe totaled 17 points in the first half of action as the Hillcats as a team shot 57 percent from the field.
A Baron Smith layup in the final minute of the first half would push the Hillcats’ lead to the largest of the half at 13 points as RSU led the Patriots 46-34 at intermission.
The Hillcats were more efficient in the second half shooting a remarkable 80 percent from the field. RSU didn’t miss a field goal over a 7:52 stretch to hold a 74-59 lead over DBU with 8:57 remaining.
The Patriots wouldn’t go quietly hanging within 15 points until JD Tisdale knocked down a 3-pointer and Sharpe went on a 5-0 run once again, including a top of the key three, to build an 88-70 advantage.
A pair of Travis Hester free throws gave RSU its largest lead of the game at 90-70 with 4:52 remaining and the Hillcats would claim a 102-86 victory over DBU to close out the home schedule.
The Hillcats missed just five field goals in the second half but outscored DBU by just four points in the final stanza.
The Hillcats six seniors of Sharpe, Tisdale, Kyler Ng, Johnathon Buckley, and Travis Hester combined for 81 of the 102 RSU points in their final game at the Expo. Tisdale finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field while Hester added 10 points including a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point. Buckley finished with nine points and eight rebounds while Ikuenobe added four points. Ng totaled six points, three rebounds, one assist, two blocks and a steal.
Junior Baron Smith Jr. finished with 17 points as the HIllcat point guard was perfect on nine attempts from free throw.
Dallas Baptist (15-9, 9-5) was led by Patrick Burke with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Myles Johnson chipped in 18 points, hitting 10-of-12 from free throw, and Amari Bryant finished with 15 points in the second straight loss for the Patriots.
Rogers State (18-7, 11-4) will close out the season with a three-game road stretch beginning Thursday, February 16 at Oklahoma Christian at 7:30 p.m. RSU Radio 91.3 FM will broadcast the road game versus the Eagles with audio streaming simulcast on the Hillcat Network at www.rsuhillcats.com.