FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Cameron men lost a hard-fought defensive battle against Rogers State, 61-59, on Wednesday to close out the Arkansas-Fort Smith Holiday Classic.

Just one night after scoring 91 points against the host team Lions, the Aggies faced a strong defensive presence in RSU. CU shot just 38.6 percent from the floor for the game, going 8-24 from three and 7-11 from the free throw line. They were also outrebounded by the Hillcats 42-33.

Leading the way for the Black and Gold offensively was Johann Tate, who scored 13 points while going 5-9 from the floor and 3-5 from three off the bench. Zach Dumas chipped in 12 points on just 3-12 shooting, while Tyus Momoh chipped in 10 points.  

In contrast to last night's fast start against UAFS, Cameron started the game against the Hillcats slow, not hitting their first shot until the 17:06 mark and going 2-7 during the first five minutes of play. Rogers State was having even worse problems on the opposite side of the court, as their 3-16 start from the floor allowed CU to take a small 11-7 lead thanks to a Momoh three pointer at the 10:45 mark. RSU answered with five straight out of the media timeout, but a pair of free throws from CU tied the game at 13. Tate then scored eight straight points for CU to build up a 21-13 advantage. Rogers State answered right back with another 5-0 run, before a Brock Schreiner three kicked off a 7-4 stretch for the Black and Gold that would give them a 28-22 lead at the break.

Tate led all scorers at the half with eight points, while Momoh and Schreiner each had five points for CU and Brewster Peacock led the Hillcats with six points and five rebounds. As a team, Cameron shot just 42.3 percent during the first 20 minutes of play, hitting 4-10 from three and 2-4 from the foul line, while their opponents shot just 26.7 percent from the floor, going 2-12 from the perimeter and 4-6 from the charity stripe.

The Hillcats came out hot in the second half, going on a 10-2 run, fueled by two Chase Littlejohn three pointers, but a three from Dumas and a layup from Tate put the Black and Gold back up by three. RSU quickly erased that lead, going on a 7-2 run to give them a 39-37 advantage. The two teams went back and forth for the next few minutes, until Rogers State used a 7-1 stretch to go up five with 10 minutes left in the contest.

Cameron fought back with a 7-3 run of their own to get to within one point with 3:20 left on the clock and then a pair of Dumas free throws gave CU a 59-58 lead with 2:27 to play. RSU got an and-one play from Peacock to give them a two-point advantage, and then a pair of costly turnovers by the Aggies secured the 61-59 win for Rogers State.

Rogers State was led by Chase Littlejohn, who scored 18 points with four three pointers in the contest. Peacock added a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. As a team, RSU shot 40.7 percent from the field thanks to a 55 percent shooting second half. They also went 8-23 from three and 5-9 from the foul line.

The Aggies now sit at 4-7 on the season with a 4-4 record against Heartland Conference opponents. The Hillcats are now 9-3 overall this season with the win.

Cameron will now have a short holiday break before returning to action on Dec. 29, when they will face Dallas Baptist in the second half of a home-and-home series against the Patriots.