The East Central University men's basketball team traveled to Claremore, OK for a non-conference matchup against Rogers State University, falling to the Hillcats 71-53 on Saturday.
"We didn't play well enough to win," Head Coach Daniel Wheeler said. "Give Coach Barkley and Rogers the credit on that one. They just beat us."
Barron Tanner, Jr. opened the half with a pair of 3-pointers to get the Tiger offense going. Tanner's seven points struck an 11-0 scoring run, and ECU pushed it to 17-8 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The Tigers cooled off a bit, and RSU managed to close the gap over the course of nine minutes, with ECU still leading 31-30 going into halftime.
RSU started off the second half with 8-0 run to grab their first lead of the game, 38-31, before a jumper from Godsgift Ezedinma put a stop to the scoring run. The Hillcats would eventually increase their lead 51-44 with 10 minutes left to go.
A layup by Jakeem Acres Ezedenma, Luke Harper, and Julian Baldwin put more points on the board for the Tigers, but it wasn't enough to catch up, and ECU dropped their first game of the season 71-53.
"We will learn from this," Wheeler said. "This team has responded every time they have been challenged, and I believe they will again."
Tanner led the offense scoring 13 points. He went 4-for-12 on the floor and 3-for-10 from the 3-point range while adding two steals.
Harper also scored in double-figures with 12 points. He shot 50% from the field, went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, and added five assists.
Keyon Thomas and Ezedenma each recorded seven points, while Acres was close behind with six of his own.
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