BY FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State Men’s Basketball improved its chances at a berth in the MIAA Tournament with an 87-80 comeback win over Northeastern State on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. A 19-0 second half run by the Tigers ultimately shifted the tide of the game in their favor as they held on down the stretch for a much-needed conference victory. FHSU is now 13-13 overall and 6-11 in the MIAA, while NSU moved to 17-10 overall and 10-8 in the MIAA.
The Tigers fought a big uphill battle in the first half, falling down by 16 with 7:47 remaining before halftime. However, the Tigers began to chip away at the big RiverHawk lead, cutting the deficit down to five before a 3-point field goal at the halftime horn pushed the margin back to eight, 41-33.
Down 48-40 with 15:30 remaining in the game, the Tigers started their tremendous second-half run. Jared Vitztum triggered the run with an old-fashioned 3-point play to get the lead down to five. The Tigers picked up stops on the next two NSU possessions and countered with a pair of free throws from Nyjee Wright, and then a game-tying 3-point field goal by Jake Hutchings at 14:05 remaining.
The Tigers continued to push, getting another stop on the defensive end and then Devin Davis countered with an old-fashioned 3-point play. FHSU led 51-48, its first lead since a pair of one-point margins at 7-6 and 9-8 in the first half. Two more misses by the RiverHawks led to back-to-back 3-point field goals, both by Vitztum to extend the lead to nine. Jake Hutchings finally capped the run with a layup at the 10:21 mark. In just over five minutes time, the Tigers went on a 19-0 run to make an eight-point deficit an 11-point lead. FHSU held NSU to 0-of-5 shooting in the run, while forcing two turnovers. FHSU shot 6-of-7 from the field in the run, including 3-of-4 beyond the 3-point line .
Northeastern State shortly stopped the bleeding with a field goal at the 10:43 mark, but FHSU kept pulling further ahead. A 14-6 run pushed the Tiger advantage to 17 with 5:21 to play, but the RiverHawks tried their best to climb back in the game. Somewhat shaky free-throw shooting down the stretch by FHSU led NSU continue to chip away, cutting the lead all the way down to five with three seconds remaining before a pair of free throws from Wright pushed the final margin back to seven.
Vitztum topped his career high in points set a week ago at Lincoln, going one better with 25. Hutchings added 18, Perry Carroll had 13 off the bench, and Davis and Wright had 11. All of Wright’s 11 points were on free throws. FHSU shot 50 percent as a team for the game, including a scorching 60 percent after halftime. The Tigers hit 21-of-32 free-throw attempts.
Caleb Smith led the RiverHawks with 26 points, followed by Kendrick Thompson with 16.
The Tigers remain in a tie for ninth in the MIAA standings, now with Central Oklahoma both at 6-11. Central Missouri and Pittsburg State are both one game back at 5-12. Fort Hays State’s game on Thursday (Feb. 27) at Central Oklahoma will be critical in trying to lock up a spot in Kansas City for the MIAA Tournament.