Fort Hays State men’s basketball looks to continue its climb in the MIAA standings on Saturday (Feb. 14) at Pittsburg State. Tipoff is set for 3:30 pm in Pittsburg, Kan. The Tigers enter at 15-8 overall, 8-6 in the MIAA, while the Gorillas are 14-8 overall, 10-4 in the MIAA. FHSU is looking to chase down PSU in the standings as the regular season end draws near.
The Tigers enter Saturday two games back of Pittsburg State in the MIAA standings. The Gorillas are currently alone in fourth place, while the Tigers are tied for sixth place. A win for the Tigers would pull them within a game of the Gorillas with four games remaining in the season. The top four teams in the standings will receive byes to Kansas City for the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament. Entering on a two-game win streak, the Tigers will need to stay hot in order to chase down a bye.
Fort Hays State is looking to avenge a 69-64 loss to Pittsburg State earlier this year in Hays. FHSU held the lead in that game with just over four minutes to play, but could not close out PSU on its home floor. The Gorillas are coming off a 101-73 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday night in Pittsburg.
Dom Samac, the reigning MIAA Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week, has scored a career-high 25 points in each of the last two games for FHSU. He now leads active FHSU players in scoring at 10.8 points per game. Royce Williams (10.1) and Achoki Moikobu (10.0) are also averaging double figures in scoring.James Fleming has been efficient of late in scoring, reaching at least 15 points in four of the last six games. He had a career-high 23 two games ago against Nebraska-Kearney and now averages 9.0 points per game. Jeremy Wilson and Jake Stoppel also average better than seven points per game and Stoppel leads the team in rebounding.
The Tigers have won 10 of the last 12 meetings with Pittsburg State. FHSU won by three in Pittsburg last year.