Published: November 05, 2009 04:50 pm      

Tigers drop close exhibition game

CLAREMORE — East Central placed five players in double figures and hit the century mark, but Rogers State eclipsed it a little more as the Hillcats knocked off the Tigers 107-100 in an exhibition basketball game Tuesday night at the Claremore Expo Center.

Eric Allen tossed in 23 points and Maurice Abraham added 21 as ECU, just 6-22 a season ago, showed signs of flashiness and athleticism in playing one of the top NAIA teams in the nation a year ago to the max.

The Hillcats, who were ranked No. 1 in the final regular season NAIA poll, received 27 points from former Oral Roberts player and returnee Sylvester Spicer and 26 from newcomer Reggie Burnett, who also pulled down 11 rebounds.

“Even as poorly as we shot, our defense kept us in the game. That competiveness and athleticism gives us a chance to get better,” said ECU head coach Terry Shannon. “To play them as well as we played them is a huge plus this early in the season.”

Also reaching double figures for the Tigers were Wayne Andrews with 18, Dontae Figgs with 15 and Terrence Hill with 10. Abraham knocked down 9-of-15 shots from the floor on the night for ECU while Figgs, an All-Lone Star Conference Second Team selection in 2008-09, converted 7-of-11.

 The Tigers shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and turned up their defensive pressure to post 11 steals on the night and force 17 RSU turnovers. However, ECU had 17 turnovers of its own and saw the Hillcats outscore them 18-10 in the final 4:08.

Three downfalls for the Tigers were being out-rebounded 53-48, converting just 61.8 percent of its free throws and hitting only 15 percent (3-of-20) from 3-point range.

But ECU, thanks to defensive pressure, did overcome an early 17-4 deficit, cut it to six at the half (52-46) off a Denarius Darby layup at the buzzer (with Hill assist) and even take  a 66-60 advantage in the second half off an Allen bucket on the break with an Abraham feed with 13:59 remaining.

A Figgs baseline drive and reverse layup put ECU up 72-68 with 12:15 to go, but the Hillcats went on a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to stay on top for good (82-75).

Also for the Tigers, Andrews led the way with four steals and Hill finished with three while Darby ended up with a team-leading four assists to go with his six points and a pair of steals. Wes Badley contributed four points and shared team-high rebounding honors with Allen as each snatched nine.

ECU plays an exhibition at Rhema Bible on Saturday at 7 p.m. before going to Oklahoma Baptist on Monday for another exhibition at 7 o’clock.