A nail biter until the end.

UAFS suffered a heart-breaking one-point loss to Rogers State in its Heartland Conference opener back in November at the Claremore (Okla.) Expo Center, but the Lions finally got to return the favor Wednesday night, holding off a late rally by the Hillcats for a 77-76 overtime win at the Stubblefield Center.

It was the first game of the second round of conference play for both teams. UAFS (9-12, 3-6) moved up two spots into a tie for seventh place in the conference with seven conference games remaining. UAFS trails conference leader and No. 3/4 nationally-ranked St. Edward's (19-1, 8-0) by six games but are only four games behind second place Dallas Baptist (14-7, 6-2) and Newman (14-5, 5-2).

Rogers State trailed by 11 points (70-59) with less than four minutes left in the game, but the Hillcats reeled off 11-unanswered points to tie the game at 70 points on a layup by junior guard Jordan Johnson with two minutes left.

UAFS missed a pair of shots during that final span, and Rogers State missed three shots, including a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer by senior guard Tate Turner that sent the game into overtime.

The game was tied three times in overtime before UAFS seized the lead for good with one second left when senior guard Chris Crawford sank the second of two free-throw attempts to give Lions a one-point lead.

Following a timeout by UAFS, Rogers State junior guard Tavian Davis took the inbounds pass and heaved a desperation 3-pointer that was off the mark to finally seal the win for UAFS, which had lost 70-69 to the Hillcats in regulation in their first encounter of the season.

UAFS shot 48 percent from the field (31 of 64) – it was 7-of-24 shooting from 3-point range – and shot only 67 percent from the free-throw line (8 of 12). Crawford led the Lions with 20 points and six assists, while junior guard Tyler Williams had 18 points and freshman forward David Ward had 17 points.

Ward topped off his third double-double of his career with 10 rebounds, helping the Lions out-rebound the Hillcats by two rebounds (39-37).

Rogers State shot 41 percent from the field (29 of 70) – it was 9-of-28 shooting from 3-point range – and shot 75 percent from the free-throw line (9 of 12). Senior guard Saint Hilaire led the Hillcats, who trailed 34-30 at halftime, with 17 points, while senior guard Chase Littlejohn had 16 and Turner had 10.

Turner and sophomore guard/forward Brewster Peacock each had seven rebounds.

UAFS will return to conference play at 3 p.m. on Saturday when the Lions play the Lubbock Christian Chaps at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas. The Chaps beat the Lions 82-69 at the Stubblefield Center in the first game on Dec. 1.
 
MEN
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE
UAFS 77, ROGERS STATE 76 (OT)
Rogers State    30        40        6          --          76
UAFS               34        36        7          --          77
Rogers State (15-7, 4-4): Hilaire 17, Littlejohn 16, Turner 10, Davis 9, Johnson 8, Peacock 7, Tidwell 6, Joiner 3
UAFS (9-12, 3-6): Crawford 20, Williams 18, Ward 17, Bowie 9, Morgan 6, Hawley 6, Ekezie 1