HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State pushed its win streak at home to eight games with an 81-66 victory over Southwest Baptist on Saturday (Feb. 6). The Tigers pulled away late in a battle that never saw a lead of more than six points until the 4:30 mark of the second half. The Tigers moved to 15-7 overall and 9-7 in the MIAA with the win, while SBU fell to 9-13 overall and 4-12 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State enjoyed a five-point lead five times in the first half, but could never build a larger lead. FHSU led 37-32 at halftime. In the second half, FHSU took leads of six points five times before SBU took a lead of one point with 8:26 to go. After the Tigers called a timeout, they came out firing with a 7-0 run to take the lead back by six. SBU cut the lead down to one, but another 7-0 run by the Tigers finally pushed the margin above six with 4:30 to play on a Dom Samac layup.
A Kyler Kinnamon 3-point field goal, followed by a pair of 3-point field goals from Rob Davis, pushed a five-point FHSU lead to 13 with just under a minute to play. Then a pair of Jake Stoppel free-throws put the final margin at 15.
Samac had a hot hand scoring 25 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, which included a pair of 3-point field goals, and an 11-of-13 effort at the free-throw line. Davis kicked in 20 points, going 7-of-11 from the field, including a 3-of-5 effort beyond the 3-point line. Jake Stoppel had 18 points on a 7-of-13 effort from the field and a 4-of-4 mark at the free-throw line. Samac nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds, while Craig Nicholson dished out a team-high six assists to go with nine points.
The Tigers shot 50.9 percent overall from the field, while holding SBU to 42.2 percent. The teams were identical at the free-throw line, both going 21-of-28 (75 percent). FHSU gained the season sweep of SBU after an 83-66 win in Bolivar earlier this year.
Logan Hovey led the Bearcats in scoring with 21 points and Brian Patterson followed with 16.
The Tigers now look to cure their road woes on Thursday (Feb. 11) when they head to Pittsburg State, then follow with a game at Missouri Southern on Saturday. FHSU is looking to snap a five-game losing streak in road games.