By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State never trailed in the second half, but had to hang on in a close battle with Newman University on Thursday evening (Feb. 3). The Tigers led by one at the half and had to hold off the Jets in the final minute for a 63-60 win. The victory gave head coach Mark Johnson his 400th win in exactly 600 games coached at Fort Hays State.
Newman came out of the gate hot by outscoring the Tigers 22-11 over the first nine and a half minutes of action. However, Fort Hays State started to get the stops it needed on defense and outscored Newman 18-6 for the remainder of the half to take a 29-28 lead into halftime. The Tigers closed on a 9-2 run over the final 6:51 of action in the first half.
The Tigers extended that late first-half run to 14-2 by scoring the first five points of the second half, but the Jets responded with a pair of 3-point field goals from Israel Barnes to tie the game 34-34. The Tigers took the lead back when Geoff Hamperian put in a layup off a scramble play under the basket, and they led the remainder of the game even while enduring several jabs from Newman making runs at the advantage.
The Tigers went up six but twice saw the Jets cut the lead down to one before the second media break of the half. Ian Lee hit a layup and was fouled with 9:19 to go and had the chance to tie the game out of a timeout, but missed the free throw. Quinten Rock made the Jets pay by hitting two consecutive 3-point field goals to push the Tiger lead out to seven with 8:11 to play.
Newman kept chipping away, getting the lead back down to one on an Arne Morris 3-point field goal with 3:58 to play, but Elijah Nnanabu stopped the run by hitting a big pull up jumper at the left elbow to push the lead back to three. Newman cut the lead to one again, but Nnanabu responded again with a layup cutting to the hoop off a pass from Kaleb Hammeke. Again, Newman pulled within one, but Bjarni Jonsson hit two free throws to make it 56-53. Newman made a pair of free throws to get within one a fifth time, but then Nyjee Wright came up clutch in his home town with a 3-point field goal to push the Tigers up by four with 1:16 to play. It was his first bucket of the game.
The Tigers were able to get stops on Newman’s next three possessions and then Wright sealed the win for FHSU with a pair of free throws. The teams traded a pair of free throws each from that point and then Barnes of Newman hit a desperation 3-point field goal at the buzzer from well beyond the arc to make the final margin just three in favor of the Tigers. By hitting that shot, this was the first game this season the Tigers gave up anywhere between 60-69 points. They had either allowed less than 60 or between 70-77 in all games this season. FHSU is allowing on average just 58.6 points per game, which ranks second best in the nation at this time.
Hammeke led the Tiger scoring effort with 14 points, doing half of his damage at the free-throw line where he was 7-of-8. Jared Vitztum had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the season. Nnanabu also reached double figures with 10 points. Hammeke finished with eight assists to lead the Tigers in that category as well.
Vitztum reached another milestone in the game, going past 1,400 points in his career. He is just the seventh Tiger in history to reach that mark. He also moved up to fourth on the all-time rebounding list, now with 839 passing Rege Klitzke (831) on that list.
Barnes finished with a game-high 28 points for the Jets, hitting 6-of-11 3-point field goal attempts. Morris also reached double figures with 12.
The Tigers, now 16-3 overall and 11-3 in the MIAA, prepare for their second battle of the season with nationally ranked Central Oklahoma on Saturday (Feb. 5) in Edmond. FHSU is looking to avenge a 77-60 loss to the Bronchos in Hays earlier this season. The Bronchos are currently ranked No. 16 nationally in both the NABC and D2SIDA Top 25 Polls, now at 18-3 overall and 13-2 in the MIAA. Tip off is at 3:30 pm inside Hamilton Field House, which follows the women’s contest at 1:30 pm.
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