CONWAY, Ark. - The Hendrix College men's basketball team was outpaced by a fast and aggressive Rust College squad on Wednesday night, falling 74-60 to the Bearcats in their final non-conference game of the regular season.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 46.0% from the floor while holding the Bearcats to 41.5%, but the visiting team took advantage of the Warriors' mistakes. Hendrix turned the ball over 20 times on the night, with 18 of them coming on steals by the Bearcats,  turning them into 23 points off of turnovers. Rust also hurt the Orange and Black on the offensive glass, earning 17 offensive rebounds and 19 second-chance points. 

Luke Vance led the Warriors with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added nine rebounds while Alec Conard pitched in with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Hank Aldous added 10 points and dished out four assists. Drew Nikolovski finished with seven points and four assists as well. O'Darius Lowe led five Bearcats in double-digits with 14 points. Curtis Stuckey scored 12, Paul Anderson and Ryan Wilkins each added 11, while Ladarius Waits finished with 10 for the visiting team.   

Rust began the game on a 13-2 run, keyed by six points from Waits. Hendrix responded by going inside, getting consecutive buckets from Vance and Conard as they pounded away on the Bearcats' posts to keep the Warriors afloat in the first half. 

With 7:32 remaining in the opening frame, Rust took a 12-point lead on a three-pointer by Wilkins. Nikolovski answered with a long-distance basket of his own to spur the home team to an 11-5 run to bring the deficit back down to six points with 5:07 to go. The Bearcats pushed the pace in the final minutes of the half and extended their lead back to double-digits, taking a 43-32 advantage into the halftime break.

In the second half, Hendrix struggled to gain momentum as the Bearcats continued to apply pressure on the defensive end. With 7:24 left, Rust took their largest lead of the game on a Frederick Fariman layup that made the score 65-48. The Warriors clawed back into contention by turning up their defensive intensity. Steals by Vance and Nikolovski helped generate a 10-2 run for the home team as they cut the lead to 67-58 with 3:50 remaining, but the Hendrix rally was halted by a costly turnover. 

The Bearcats sealed the game by going 7-for-10 from the foul line and allowing the Warriors just two points in the final two minutes.

Hendrix moves to 6-8 on the season and will finish their season with 11 consecutive games against Southern Athletic Association opponents. The team will take on SAA foe Rhodes College on Saturday at 4 p.m.