HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Basketball improved to 13-3 overall and 8-3 in the MIAA with a 70-51 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers trailed for only a total of 24 seconds early in the game and held the lead for over 36 minutes in another strong defensive effort, limiting another team to less than 60 points.
Jared Vitztum went past the 800-rebound threshold in his career, becoming the sixth player in school history to reach that mark. He also joined elite company as just the third player in school history to have at least 1,300 points and 800 rebounds, the only other two being Alonzo Goldston (1,766 points, 870 rebounds) and Mike Pauls (1,492 points, 907 rebounds). Vitztum now has 1,360 points and 814 rebounds in his career after recording his eighth double-double of the season on Saturday with 13 points and 16 rebounds in the winning effort.
With the win, the Tigers completed a sweep of all the teams they are scheduled to see just once this regular season, which included Pittsburg State, Missouri Southern, Emporia State, and Washburn.
Pittsburg State's only lead of the game happened at the 15:07 mark of the first half, taking a brief 8-6 lead before Vitztum tied the game back up with a jumper. A Pittsburg State technical foul allowed Kaleb Hammeke to make a pair of free tosses and the Tigers led the rest of the way. The Tigers went on an 11-2 run following that technical foul and eventually went on to lead by 18 at the half, 38-20.
The Tigers scored the first six points out of the break, part of an 11-0 run going back to the first half. The 44-20 lead produced the largest margin in the game for the Tigers as they went on to win by 19.
Hammeke led the Tigers with 21 points and was strong on the glass pulling down eight rebounds to supplement Vitztum's double-double effort. Nyjee Wright had eight points and Elijah Nnanabu and Gilbert Peters each had seven.
Bobby Arthur-Williams led the Gorillas with 14 points, while Cameron Huefner added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds. They were the only PSU players in double figures.
The Tigers look for a third win in a row on Monday when they head to St. Joseph for their make-up game with Missouri Western at 3:30 pm.
FHSU Athletics