FHSU Sports Information Department
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State survived a frantic comeback effort by Missouri Southern on Monday night (Jan. 4) at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. FHSU led by 11 with 4:28 to go in the game, but MSSU closed the second half on a 13-2 run to force overtime. The Lions led by four with 2:13 to play in overtime, but FHSU rallied for the final five points to escape with the 84-83 win moving to 11-2 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State held leads of 10 points four times in the first half, which turned out to be the halftime margin with FHSU up 42-32. After Craig Nicholson hit the first shot of the second half to push the lead to 12, Missouri Southern managed to trim the lead down to two points four times before FHSU went on an 11-2 run to lead by 11 with 4:28 to play in the game.
The Lions did not go quietly as they turned up their defensive pressure and forced the Tigers into five turnovers in the final 4:14. With all the opportunities and FHSU hitting just one shot in the final four minutes, MSSU finally caught the Tigers on a 3-point field goal by Bruce Marshall with 29 seconds remaining. FHSU did not get a final shot off as it turned the ball over with just over two seconds to play. Missouri Southern’s last second shot fell wayward, leaving the teams in a 76-76 tie and five minutes of overtime to play. Marshall buried only his fourth 3-point field goal attempt of the season to send the game to overtime.
Missouri Southern scored the first two baskets of overtime to go up by four, but Rob Davis cut into the lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:41 mark. Missouri Southern’s Taylor Luster answered with a three of his own to push the lead back to four. Needing a bucket bad, Davis went strong to the hole and buried a layup to cut the lead to two points with 1:07 to play. The Tigers played tough defense and Jake Stoppel secured the rebound on a shot in close before getting fouled. Stoppel calmly drained a pair of free-throws with 49 seconds remaining to tie the game once again.
With 21 seconds remaining, a Charlie Brown 3-point field goal attempt missed and the Tigers were able to work the clock down. With 3.1 seconds remaining, Craig Nicholson found a lane to the rim and was fouled on a layup attempt. Nicholson buried the first of two free-throw attempts, but MSSU secured the rebound on the second and called timeout quickly. MSSU was only able to in-bounds the ball to about three-quarters of the court away from the basket, so a running 3-point attempt by Taevaunn Prince at the buzzer was off the mark.
The win allowed Fort Hays State to move into a four-way second-place tie in the MIAA at 5-2. The Tigers are just a half game back of conference-leading Northwest Missouri State, which sits at 6-2.
Dom Samac had 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Stoppel had 10 points and 11 rebounds to each record double-doubles. It was Stoppel’s third double-double of the season and Samac’s first. Davis added 20 points and Craig Nicholson had 17 with four assists. Nicholson moved to 11th on the all-time scoring list at FHSU, jumping Corbin Kuntzsch (1,218) and Sam McDowell (1,220) on the list with his effort. Nicholson now has 1,227 points in his career.
The Tigers head on a tough two-game road swing this weekend at Lindenwood (Thursday) and Lincoln (Saturday). Both are tied with Fort Hays State for second in the conference right now at 5-2 and both are 9-4 overall.