Story by ASHER JOHNSON Photos by CORBYN MARQUESS and JORDYN BREDENBERG
Tiger Media Network
FHSU men’s basketball continues to stay hot at home, having now won 11 straight games at Gross Memorial Coliseum after dispatching Missouri Southern 70-59 on Thursday and Pittsburg State 62-58 on Saturday.
The Tigers (18-8, 11-6) now trail Pitt State (16-10, 12-5) by just one game with one week left in the regular season.
Coming into Saturday, the Gorillas were averaging 72 points per game, which is second-best in the MIAA behind Washburn. Fort Hays held PSU to just 58 points and 25% shooting from the three-point line while adding 10 second-chance points of their own to help knock off the Gorillas.
Freshman forward Eli Lawson had a season-high 10 points off the bench that proved crucial in the victory. He also grabbed three offensive rebounds, adding to the Tigers’ second-chance points.
“Tonight was just my night to fit the role and follow my seniors who I look up to by example,” Lawson said. “Everyone is bought in on winning, we go hard everyday, you either get worse or you get better everyday.”
Saturday was senior night, as Shaun Riley, R.J. Crawford, Traejon Davis, and Kaleb Hammeke were recognized before the game. Lawson said how much it meant for this team to win on senior night for his teammates.
Riley had key defensive stops at the end of the game that sealed the win. Riley guarded the leading scorer in the MIAA, Jordan Frison, when it mattered most. With under three minutes remaining and the game tied 56-56, Riley was asked to guard Frison who at that point had 30 points. Riley blocked a driving layup by Frison, which led to a Hammeke jumper, giving FHSU the lead.
“[I wanted to] make him shoot over me, I knew I was taller than him and he liked his floaters and pull up jumpers, so I wanted him to try and make a layup over me,” Riley said of his defensive play against Frison. “I wanted to make sure me and my other seniors have a win for one of our last home games here in the Coliseum. I wanted it for them.”
Riley, the 6’7 senior from O’Fallon, Ill. may have only had one block the entire game, but it came up in the most crucial moment.
FHSU will conclude its home season at 7:30 on Wednesday against Nebraska-Kearney in a makeup game from earlier this season before traveling north to play the Lopers again on Saturday.