FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball opens the MIAA Tournament Monday night (Feb. 27) at home against Northeastern State. The Tigers (17-10, 11-8 MIAA) are the No. 5 seed in the tournament, while the RiverHawks (5-22, 4-15 MIAA) are the No. 12 seed. Game time is set for 7 pm.
The Tigers and RiverHawks split their regular season meetings with both teams winning on their home floor. FHSU won by seven in Hays and NSU won by six in Tahlequah. FHSU won its final game of the regular season on Thursday at Southwest Baptist, while NSU dropped its last regular season game at Washburn on Saturday.
This will be the first time the FHSU men host an opening round tournament game since the MIAA Tournament format went to 12 teams in 2012-13. The Tigers tied for fourth in the regular season standings with Missouri Southern, Washburn, and Central Oklahoma. Missouri Southern earned a bye in the tournament by going 3-0 against FHSU, WU, and UCO. FHSU had a 4-1 record against the cluster of four teams to earn the No. 5 seed.
Rob Davis pushed past 2,000 points in his collegiate career at Southwest Baptist and continues to lead the Tigers in scoring at 21.9 points per game. Hadley Gillum has scored over 20 points in each of the last three games and has seen his scoring average climb to 13.4 points per game. JaQuan Smith leads the team in rebounding at 6.6 per game and ranks third on the team in scoring at 7.9 points per game.
The RiverHawks are led in scoring by Montre’ Williams at 12.4 points per game. He has averaged 11.5 against the Tigers this season.