Box Score CLAREMORE, Okla. --- Wayland Baptist junior center Rodrigo Silva had a career day against Rogers State on Saturday but it wasn't enough as the Pioneers fell to the Hillcats, 68-64.
Silva was 9-of-10 from the field and posted his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. George Williams added 17 points and Bobby Watkins had ten for Wayland, which lost its fifth straight game.
The contest was extremely close. RSU's largest lead was nine points which came with 5:38 left in the first half. The Pioneers had a three-point lead at the 3:37 mark of the second period when Williams hit a three to make it 59-56.
The WBU men had one of their best shooting days of the season from the field, hitting 54 percent of their shots. They outscored the Hillcats 42-24 in the paint and outrebounded their hosts, 37-23, getting 20 second chance points on 12 offensive boards.
The game ultimately came down to the free throw line, and that's where the news got bad for the Pioneers. Wayland hit just 10 of their 24 attempts from the charity stripe, as opposed to RSU which was 17-of-22.
Still, WBU had its chance at the end to win. Williams was fouled as he nailed a pull-up jumper in the lane with 23 seconds left to make it 65-64. The junior guard missed the free throw that would have tied the game.
The Hillcats came down and hit one of two to go back up by two. Williams missed a three-pointer on the Pioneers' next possession, and RSU's Chris Francis nailed two free throws for the final points of the game.
John Boyd led the Hillcats, who improved to 10-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play, with 18 points. Wayland dropped to 6-11 on the season and 1-9 in league action.
The Pioneers return home for four straight beginning Thursday against Oklahoma Christian University.
