By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State improved to 18-4 overall and 13-4 in the MIAA with a 66-57 win over Northeastern State on Saturday (Feb. 12) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers led all the way from the first basket of the game and pick up a regular season sweep of the RiverHawks for the second-straight year. Northeastern State moved back to level overall at 12-12, and 7-11 in the MIAA.
The Tigers opened the game on a 12-2 run to quickly build a double-figure lead. They led by as many as 12 in the first half five times before taking a 30-23 lead into halftime.
Northeastern State threatened the lead early on by opening the second half on a 5-0 burst, part of a 10-0 run going back to the end of the first half. However, a Bjarni Jonsson 3-point field goal in the left corner triggered the second-half scoring for the Tigers and they worked the lead back out to 10 with 10-2 run. NSU made one more push to get the lead down to four with 9:23 to play, but a 16-5 run by the Tigers put the game out of reach and extended the lead to 15 with 3:07 to play. That turned out to be the largest lead of the game for FHSU.
FHSU shot 40 percent overall, while limiting NSU to just 36.7 percent. The difference in score was attributed to free throws as the Tigers hit 10 more than the RiverHawks. The Tigers held yet another opponent inside of 60 points, accomplishing that feat 16 out of 22 games this season. The Tigers continue to own the second-best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 58.7 points per game.
Nyjee Wright led the Tigers with 14 points, hitting a pair of 3-point field goals and going a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Jared Vitztum led the Tigers in rebounds with seven and added 12 points. Kaleb Hammeke (11) and Gabe Pieschl (10) each reached double figures in scoring. The 10 points tied Pieschl’s career high.
Rashad Perkins led the RiverHawks with 17 points, while Christian Cook added 16.
The Tigers prepare for their third home game in five days on Monday when Lincoln University comes to town for a make-up contest. Lincoln had issues with COVID-19 back on January 8, when the game was originally supposed to be played. Tipoff will be at 5 pm inside of Gross Memorial Coliseum.