HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State got off to a slow start, falling down 10-0 to open the game, but rallied and took control late in the first half against Lincoln on Saturday (Feb. 20). The Tigers led the entire second half, but had to hold off the Blue Tigers late for a 79-65 win on Senior Day at Gross Memorial Coliseum. FHSU improved to 18-8 overall and 12-8 in the MIAA, while Lincoln moved to 13-13 overall and 9-11 in the MIAA.
Lincoln led by as many as 11 points early in the game with FHSU struggling out of the gate, but FHSU went on an 11-0 run to tie the game at 13-13 with 11:03 to go before the half. FHSU took the lead for good on a Jake Stoppel layup with 5:46 remaining. The Tigers built an eight point lead three times before Lincoln sliced the lead to four by halftime.
The Tigers struggled to pull away from Lincoln in the second half, seeing their lead trimmed to two points at the 13:12 mark. But they still held off each push from Lincoln, pushing the lead up to nine with 10:32 to play. Lincoln trimmed the lead back to four with 4:41 to play, but that was as close as it would get. The Tigers hit a pair of 3-point field goals in the final 1:44 of the game to extend the lead into double figures.
Craig Nicholson finished with 22 points, tying his season high on a 5-of-8 effort from the field, including a 3-of-3 effort beyond the arc. He went 9-of-12 at the free-throw line as well and dished out a team-high six assists. Stoppel finished with 16 points, Rob Davis had 13, and Kenny Enoch added 11. Hadley Gillum scored nine points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Anthony Virdure led Lincoln with 20 points, hitting four 3-point field goals. Jaylon Smith added 15 points and O’Shai Clark had 11.
The Tigers shot 54.2 percent from the field overall and an impressive 60 percent beyond the 3-point line (9-of-15). FHSU held Lincoln to 46.7 percent shooting from the field.
FHSU recognized its four seniors prior to the game, Craig Nicholson, Jake Stoppel, Dom Samac, and Kenny Enoch.
The Tigers are now alone in fourth place in the MIAA standings, just a game back of second and a half game back of third with two regular season games to play.