By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Back on its home floor for the first time in nearly three weeks, Fort Hays State fell to Lindenwood on Thursday evening (Feb. 14) by a score of 73-67. A sluggish start by FHSU allowed Lindenwood to build a 12-point lead early, a lead they would hold onto the remainder of the game and hand the Tigers their second home loss of the season.
The Tigers led only one time in the game after Marcus Cooper provided their first three points of the game on a three-point shot in the first minute of the game. Lindenwood led for 37 minutes of the game in total, including the final 36 minutes overall. A 16-4 run allowed Lindenwood to build its first 12-point lead of the game, a margin it enjoyed two more times in the first half before it led by six at the half, 37-31.
Fort Hays State pulled within two on a Kyler Kinnamon three-point field goal at the 17:25 mark of the second half, but a Diego Womack answer behind the three-point line pushed the lead back to five. The Tigers trimmed the lead to four five times before finally bringing it down to three with 9:33 to play on a Devin Davis three-point play. Like the instance before, Lindenwood answered with a three-point play from Chandler Diekvoss, who finished with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions.
The Tigers trimmed the lead to four two more times, but when a three-point field goal from TJ Crockett of Lindenwood went in with 5:28 to go, a nine-point deficit was too much for the Tigers to overcome. The Tigers never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Devin Davis was a spark off the bench for FHSU with a season-high 18 points. Brady Werth finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the season. With five assists in the game, Kyler Kinnamon reached the 400-assist mark for his career at FHSU, just the fourth player in program history to reach that mark.
Outside of the 23 points scored by Diekvoss, Womack chipped in 16, Crockett had 12, and Brad Newman had 12 for Lindenwood. Adam Pohlman led the Lions in assists with eight.
Turnovers were a big key for the Lions, forcing 12 out of the Tigers that turned into 18 points. FHSU scored only five points off turnovers in the game.
The Tigers moved to 14-9 overall and 8-6 in the MIAA with the loss. They remained within a game of fourth-place Lincoln in the MIAA standings after last-place Nebraska-Kearney knocked off Lincoln on Thursday night in Kearney. Lincoln comes to Hays with a record of 16-7 overall, 9-5 in the MIAA. Tipoff on Saturday is set for 4 pm at Gross Memorial Coliseum.