By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Fort Hays State bounced back from a Thursday loss with a big 28-point win over Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 7) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers closed the first half on an 18-0 run to take a 15-point halftime lead, then outscored the Gorillas by 13 in the second half to cruise to an 83-55 win.
The game was close early on as the Gorillas held a four-point lead four times before the Tigers went on their big run at the end of the first half. The 18-0 run over the final eight minutes started with a pair of Jaheim Holden free throws, then Gabe Pieschl put the Tigers on top for the first time on a layup off a pass from Haggan Hilgendorf. Pieschl went on to account for seven of the team’s points in the big run, while Holden and Gilbert Peters each had four and Bjarni Jonsson had three. Pieschl led the Tigers with 11 first-half points.
The Tiger run reached 20-0 overall when Elijah Nnanabuhit the first basket after halftime. The Tiger lead reached 20 at the 16:39 mark and they pushed their lead to 20 or more five more times in the game. It stayed at 20 or more for the final five minutes of the game and the Tigers ended the game with a 7-0 run to get the final margin to 28.
Pieschl and Jonsson led the Tigers with 15 points each. Jonsson canned a career-high three 3-point field goals in the game, going 6-of-9 from the field overall. Pieschl was also 6-of-9 from the field and was a perfect 2-of-2 at the free-throw line, while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Nnanabu had 12 second-half points to finish with 13, while Peters finished with 12 points overall. Holden finished with a team-high five assists.
Quentin Hardict led the Gorillas in scoring with 11 points, followed by Calvin Poulina with 10. Deshaun English II finished with a team-high nine rebounds for PSU.
The Tigers finished the game at 57.1 percent overall from the field and hit seven 3-point field goals. They held the Gorillas to 36.5 percent shooting overall and their opponent inside 60 points for the ninth time this season.
The FHSU men travel to St. Joseph, Mo. on Tuesday (Jan. 10) for their make-up game with Missouri Western at 4 p.m. The game originally scheduled for December 10 was postponed due to Missouri Western dealing with COVID-19 issues as a team. Following that, the Tigers will be back at home on Saturday (Jan. 14) against Nebraska-Kearney.