FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State picked up a big win over Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon in Hays by a score of 62-58. The Tigers got past the Gorillas by scoring the final four points of the game in the final minute, making a big defensive stand in the final six minutes. The win brought the Tigers within a game of second place in the MIAA standings behind the Gorillas. FHSU is now 18-8 overall and 11-6 in the MIAA, while the Gorillas moved to 16-10 overall and 12-5 in the MIAA.
The contest was close throughout as neither team ever led by more than five points. The Tigers opened the game on a 9-4 run to lead by five before the Gorillas found a way to lead by five with 4:19 remaining before halftime. FHSU closed the first half on a 6-2 run to make the game dead even at 30-30 by halftime.
Jordan Frison was a handful for the Tigers, leading Pittsburg State with 30 points. He scored 18 of his team's 28 points in the second half after dropping 12 in the first half. He finished the game 12-of-21, but tough-as-nails defense late by the likes of R.J. Crawford and Shaun RIley bottled up chances at the rim for Frison to score. He also tied for a team-high six rebounds and dished out a team-high four assists to lead PSU.
Kaleb Hammeke scored 14 of his team-high 18 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the season. Hammeke now sits just 30 points shy of 2,000 for his career. He also had a team-high four assists. Eli Lawson had a breakout game, coming off the bench to score a season-high 10 points. Riley also finished in double figures with 10 points.
Hammeke and Pitt State's Frison started to go toe-to-toe for each of their squads. Inside the final 10 minutes, Hammeke had 12 points and Frison had eight. Frison gave Pitt State its final lead of the game, 56-54, on a step-back jumper with six minutes to play. The Tigers got the score back to even when Dan Makuna made a big bucket out of a hard scramble for a loose ball.
The Tigers held the Gorillas to just two points over the final six minutes of the game. A Hammeke jumper near the free-throw line put the Tigers up two, but the Gorillas evened the score with a bucket at the 1:46 mark. However, Hammeke was clutch at the free-throw line down the stretch, hitting a pair with 53 seconds remaining before the Tigers got another big stop. Hammeke then hit both shots of a 1-and-1 situations to put the Tigers up four.
The Gorillas scrambled to find a good look late, but took too much time as the Tigers held on by four and kept the Gorillas one point under 59, FHSU's nation's-best scoring defense average.
Evan Jackson was the only other Gorilla player to finish in double figures scoring with 14 points. The 58 points for PSU matched their season low for points in a game this season, also occurring in a loss by the same score of 62-58 to Missouri-St. Louis.
UP NEXT
Fort Hays State has one more home game, a make-up with Nebraska-Kearney that was postponed due to weather in early January. The Tigers play the Lopers twice this coming week, at home on Wednesday night and on the road on Saturday, March 1 to close out the regular season.