JOPLIN, Mo. – Fort Hays State pulled out a hard-fought 85-82 win on the road at Missouri Southern on Saturday (Feb. 13). Not only did the win snap a six-game road losing streak, it also gave Mark Johnson his 300th career victory as head coach of the Tigers.<\/p>\n
Fort Hays State led the entire first half, opening the game on a 7-0 run. The lead grew to double digits at the 10:00 mark amid an 8-0 run. The Tigers led by 12 four times before the Lions ended the half on a 14-5 run to make it just a three-point game at halftime, 42-39 in favor of FHSU.<\/p>\n
Missouri Southern took its first lead of the game at the 17:46 mark of the second half. The lead changed hands four times before FHSU pushed back in front with a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead at the 7:08 mark. After four straight points for MSSU, the Tigers used a 6-0 run to push the lead even further to nine with 5:28 remaining.<\/p>\n
The Lions had one more run in them, going on a 15-4 burst to take a two-point lead with 1:56 remaining, but Craig Nicholson shifted the momentum back to the Tigers by hitting a big 3-point field goal at the 1:35 mark. The Tiger defense did not allow any points to the Lions in the final 1:56 and Hadley Gillum and Kenny Enoch each hit one-of-two free throw attempts inside the final 30 seconds to push the margin to three. MSSU had two 3-point field goal attempts fall off the mark just before the final horn.<\/p>\n
Rob Davis led the Tigers with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, which included a pair of 3-point field goals while going 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Nicholson finished with 15 points and a team-high five assists. Stoppel and Gillum each had 12 while Gillum secured a team-high six rebounds. Enoch finished with 11 points.<\/p>\n
FHSU held the MIAA’s top scorer Taevaunn Prince to 21 points, six shy of his average, while Charlie Brown had 15, Austin Wright had 14, and Taylor Luster had 11.<\/p>\n
The win was big for FHSU in the conference standings, remaining in a fifth-place tie with Washburn. However, with Lindenwood and Nebraska-Kearney each taking losses on Saturday, the Tigers pulled within a game of second place in the MIAA standings and just a half-game shy of fourth. The top four teams receive byes to the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City.<\/p>\n
FHSU returns home this coming week to take on Lindenwood (Thursday) and Lincoln (Saturday).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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