Hillcat Basketball Announces 2012-13 Schedule

Head Men's Basketball Coach Justin Barkley (photo by Ryan Weaver).

CLAREMORE, Okla. – The 2012-13 road back to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship has been set as the Rogers State men’s basketball team schedule was released Monday.

Coach Justin Barkley’s squad coming off a NAIA National Championship Quarterfinal finish will kick-off the 2012-13 season at home versus Central Baptist inside the Claremore Expo at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30. The game begins a three game stretch inside the Expo as Southwestern Christian and Northwestern Oklahoma State come to town. NWOSU, a former Sooner Athletic Conference foe, headlines the 2012 Homecoming Festivities for RSU.

The end of November will see the Cats hit the road often with six road games including trips to San Antonio, Texas for the Halo Classic Presented by Drury Inn at Our Lady of the Lake and the Oklahoma Baptist University Classic in Shawnee, Okla.

“In my five years here this is the toughest non-conference slate to date,” Barkley said of the upcoming schedule. “Three teams were in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament last year including the champion of the Red River Athletic Conference and Heart of America Athletic Conference along with the RRAC runner-up. Add to it Northwestern Oklahoma State that returns four starters and we play them in a home and home.”

Sooner Athletic Conference play will begin on January 3, 2013 on the road in Chickasha, Okla. as the Cats face USAO in an 8 p.m. contest. The conference home opener will follow two days later as Mid-America Christian visits the Expo for a 5 p.m. tip time.

Oklahoma Baptist, ranked No. 2 in the 2011-12 NAIA Postseason Coaches Top 25 Poll, will face the Hillcats inside the Expo on January 10 at 8 p.m.

“We feel we put together a schedule that gets us ready for a battle tested league play. We have a lot of new faces and will find out plenty about our squad early this season,” said the third year head coach of the Hillcats.

The Hillcats will play inside the friendly confines of the Claremore Expo on 15 dates, including four of the final five games of the regular season played at home.

Season ticket sales are underway for all 15 home dates for Hillcat men’s basketball. For more information on season tickets click here or call 918-343-7839.

For a complete list of the 2012-13 Hillcat men's schedule click here.