Box Score Rogers State kept a hold on its number one ranking at least for another game with a 79-58 win Thursday evening over the Pioneers. The top-ranked Hillcats, which came at the young WBU men in waves with eight players grabbing at least 16 minutes of playing time, shot 60 percent from the field for the game to improve their record to 18-1 on the season.
The WBU men jumped out to an early lead thanks to three straight treys by Jason Griffin, but after coming back to tie the score at 13, the RSU men took control of the game, outscoring the Pioneers 27-10 the remainder of the half to take a 40-23 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
The Hillcats scored the first eight points of the second period and put it on cruise control from there. Wayland's young team was just unable to match up against the extremely athletic visitors.
Freshman Bobby Watkins led all scorers with 17 points. Three other Pioneers, Tyrone Crawford, Griffin, and Rene Farias, had nine points each. Jon Hurt led the WBU men on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds. The senior from Mason, Okla. also handed out a game-high five assists and had two steals in 38 minutes of playing time.
Four Hillcats reached the double figure mark in scoring, led by Sylvester Spicer with 14.
The Pioneers shot a respectable 48 percent for the game, including 58 percent in the second half, but committed 23 turnovers and had three shots blocked. RSU converted those turnovers into 21 points. The Hillcats used their size advantage to outscore WBU 32-20 in the paint, but had just a two rebound edge in that department, 27-25.
WBU (12-8, 4-8) will try to bounce back on Saturday when they face John Brown University at 3 p.m. JBU defeated Lubbock Christian, 88-65, on Thursday.
