Box score
OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 5, 2009) – Rogers State (Okla.) – fresh off jumping to No. 3 in the NAIA – was too much down the stretch for No. 11 Oklahoma Christian in a 85-68 decision in the Eagles' Nest on Monday night.
Rogers State clung to a narrow 30-29 lead at halftime, but outscored Oklahoma Christian 55-39 in the final half to improve to 12-0 and 6-0 in Sooner Athletic Conference play. The Eagles dropped to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the SAC.
RSU controlled the first part of the opening stanza and led by as many as seven points. The Eagles hung around though, and cut the lead down to 18-15 at the 9:42 mark when Michael Nkollo canned a 15-footer.
OC fought even closer when Kyle Tefft hit four-straight foul shots at the 6:49 and 6:33 marks to make it a 20-19 contest. The Eagles then staked their first lead at 21-20 lead Tefft stole an RSU pass and found David Jackson streaking down the court for a layup.
The Eagles were up 27-23 by the three-minute point after a Jason Taylor layin off a Crocker dish. But the first half ended with five-straight points from RSU's Eric Young and the Hillcats went to locker room up one.
OC made all nine of its first-half foul shots and was led by Crocker's eight points at the break. Young had eight in the opening half for RSU.
The Hillcats got a quick triple from Deveric Taylor to extend its lead to 33-29 shortly after the start of the second half. The three was a sign of things to come for RSU – who nailed 7-of-10 three-point tries in the second stanza.
The game then went into seesaw mode over a big chunk of the half, with RSU taking brief leads only for OC to fight back and tie the score. Taylor sunk a pair of charity tosses at the 11:45 mark to knot it at 50-50, but Matt Kellogg buried a deep trey on the other end for the Hillcats.
RSU grabbed its biggest lead yet when Roderick Rodgers hit a trey in the corner at 8:04, making it 61-54. The basket was part of an eventual 24-8 run that tilted the game in the Hillcats' favor. When Taylor sunk another Hillcat three at the 3:51 mark, it was a 74-58 RSU bulge.
OC got to within 11 points on a Taylor free throw with 1:33 to play, but the Eagles came no closer.
Taylor was a bright spot for OC with a game-high 24 points that was aided by 15-of-18 foul shooting. Crocker had 16 points and three assists, while Tefft added 13 points and four rebounds. Rodgers was RSU's high-point man with 18 points to go with seven boards.
The Eagles made a season-high 27-of-32 foul shots for an 84-percent clip. RSU won the rebounding battle 34-23 and shot 52 percent from the field (27-of-51).
OC makes the short trip to No. 24 Oklahoma City on Thursday night for the annual "Backyard Brawl" presented by The Oklahoman. Tip time is 8 p.m. at OCU's Abe Lemmons Arena.
-OC-
