By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State had a few opportunities late to take a lead, but came up short in a 74-69 MIAA Tournament Quarterfinal loss to Lincoln University. Lincoln moved to 18-11 overall, while FHSU closed its season at 18-11.
Down by just one point with 3:20 to play, Fort Hays State came up with three consecutive stops on the defensive end, but could not convert anything offensively on its ensuing possessions to take a lead. Terrance Smith, Lincoln’s leading scorer on the season, was held in check most of the game but delivered the knockout blow on a long three-point field goal with 46 seconds remaining. Both teams had 11 three-point field goals up until the shot, but Lincoln’s 12th proved to be the game decider. FHSU went 0-of-6 from the field inside the closing three minutes until an Aaron Nicholson three with just a few ticks remaining made the final margin five.
Lincoln led the entire second half after leading by six, 39-33, at the half. The Blue Tigers closed the first half on a 10-0 run to take the six-point halftime lead. It immediately ballooned to 11 points within the first minute of the second half, giving Lincoln a 15-0 run overall going back to the first half, but FHSU chipped away throughout the second half and trimmed the lead to one point twice inside the final eight minutes of the game.
Fort Hays State’s biggest lead in the game was four points, leading 33-29 late in the first half, before Lincoln went on its 15-0 run that spilled over to the second half.
Nicholson led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points going 7-of-10 from the field, including a 4-of-5 effort beyond the arc. Kyler Kinnamon had 12 points and a team-high five assists. Trey O’Neil finished with 11 points and Marcus Cooper added 10. Brady Werth had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Grant Olsson was a thorn in the side of FHSU for the second straight meeting. After scoring 24 in the first game against the Tigers in Hays earlier this year, he led Lincoln with 23 points on Saturday by nearly going perfect from the field. He was 8-of-9 overall and a perfect 5-of-5 beyond the three-point line. Jonell Burton was right behind Olsson in scoring with 22 points, while leading his team in rebounds with nine. Ni’Sean Rigmaiden had 12 points and led the Blue Tigers with 11 assists for a double-double.
Fort Hays State won at least 18 games for the fourth consecutive season and the Tiger senior class this year helped the team to 75 wins over four years.